SAQ: How long will it take for the GPS to pick up my new street name?

Users can request for a street to be added

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio region has been one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, and that means new homes and streets are popping all the time. Sometimes they pop up even faster than GPS and things like Google Maps can keep up.

That’s been a source of frustration for Denise Orr, who lives near Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

“I’ve recently moved to a new area where they’re still building some houses and when I put the name of my street in the GPS it says no location,” she wrote. “How long will it take for the GPS to pick up my street name?”

The answer depends on the company. According to Google, it comes down to the data they collect and receive. Their street view vehicles drive around collecting info. For other streets, they rely on mapping data from government sources or even developers of new housing.

TomTom, an independent location, navigation and map technology specialist, said they have over 600 million devices connected to its servers.

“If our AI (artificial intelligence) tools detect that there are cars are moving along a road that doesn’t exist in the map, then it will create an alert for our map editors to investigate. In most cases it doesn’t reach this phase, because we have over 75,000 authoritative sources globally that inform us of the progress with new construction such as roads. We usually know when these are planned to open and they are captured ahead of time in our map, but only unveiled or made available in a GPS device once the road is officially open.”

They said their map database is refreshed weekly, so in most cases a new road being added would be featured in one of these updates. The next step is the map needs to be updated in the GPS device and the owner should update it regularly so that new changes are reflected, the company said.

Users can also request a street be added through Google Maps on its website or app. Here’s how:

Desktop

  1. On your computer, open Google Maps.
  2. Click Menu.
  3. At the bottom, click Send feedback.
  4. Click Missing road.
  5. Click the map where the missing road should be.
  6. Add the name of the road and any additional information.
  7. Click Submit.

Through the App on Android or IOS

  1. Tap your profile picture or initial Account Circle and then Help & Feedback and then Send Feedback.
  2. Select the affected road.
  3. From the list that appears at the bottom, tap the place or road you want to fix.
  4. Follow onscreen instructions to send your feedback.

Google will the review the request, but be patient, sometimes it does take a while for your street to be added.

Have questions about transportation or traffic? Let us know and your answer may be our next story. Find past answers on our traffic page.


About the Author:

Samuel King anchors traffic during the afternoon and evening newscasts and reports on transportation and mobility issues across the San Antonio region. He joined KSAT 12 in 2020 from KUT in Austin. Samuel was born in Queens, spent time growing up in South Alabama and graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.