Volume 26 • No 04 • 2003
ISSN 0742-468X • Since 1978
On-line Since 2000
MapQuest Is On Track
You remember MapQuest, don’t you? You probably used it to get directions sometime in the last few weeks. Of course we are talking about the self–described world’s leading online mapping, routing and global location-based services company. I remember when they first hit the web, and I along with the rest of the GIS elitist snickered at this mapping (i.e. not GIS) program. I also remember crying when I heard how much AOL paid for them.
Though most of us think of MapQuest as just an online mapping company that we use for directions, the company is much more. It is a leading location finder, and that is becoming a very important part of GIS. In fact, if you did not know, they sell some of their services directly to end–user companies to serve up maps of all kinds.
All Aboard
Unless you live in the Washington, NYC, Boston corridor and perhaps a few other places the term “All Aboard” is probably a remnant from an old black and white movie. Nobody says All Aboard to jet plane passengers or to the folks crammed into a Greyhound bus, or to vacationers on a luxury ocean liner. It is a term tightly linked to  trains. Today, trains are either a best–bet for some commuters, a nostalgic, if not scenic way to travel, or the 100 car monster riding the tracks making you late for your meeting. I still have vivid memories of going to Grand Central Station in NYC to climb a board that train that would take me to my Grandfather’s house in Connecticut — but I digress, and you really want to know what this has to do with MapQuest and GIS
Before you can actually climb aboard one of these steel horses, you first have to find a railroad station. That’s where MapQuest comes in. You see, MapQuest and Amtrack announced an agreement to integrate MapQuest Business Solutions software on Amtrak’s popular Web site, www.amtrak.com
Now you can find directions to any of more than 500 railroad stations across the country. That seems to be a lot better than trying to flag down a train at your local rural RR crossing! Under this new agreement, the MapQuest technology will enable Amtrak to expand the mapping and routing functionality on its web site. With MapQuest tools in place, visitors to Amtrak’s Web site are now able to search for the locations of any of Amtrak’s more than 500 stations from coast-to-coast. Using the Amtrak “Station Finder” — powered by MapQuest — passengers may locate Amtrak stations at both their point of departure, their final destination or any point in-between. In addition, MapQuest provides detailed driving directions to and from rail stations and offers maps to assist Amtrak passengers in planning their travel itineraries.
From my recent dealings with MapQuest I have learned that they intend to move the famed MapQuest product beyond just the standard Web mapping tools we all know. They want to make their technology the preferred mapping engine for organizations that want to get people from one location to another. Tommy McGloin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of MapQuest said “This agreement demonstrates the confidence that America’s leading corporations have in MapQuest to get their customers where they need to go.”
.
Conclusion
Whether you consider MapQuest a GIS company or a dot com company is immaterial. They are the ordinary person’s portal into our world of GIS. Yes, yes, I know that what you do is far more complicated and important, but applications by companies such as MapQuest put GIS in terms that even your Auntie May can understand.
So what do I think of MapQuest’s strategy of new business applications? I think they are on the right track!
| 
