Vernon Matters: Google Maps showing incorrect routes around Aberdeen Rd. closure. “The District of Coldstream is warning residents about an incorrect Google Maps route around the Aberdeen Road Closure. The road is closed for the ongoing sewer enhancement work, and Google Maps is directing drivers to routes through private property and open fields.”

ABC News (Australia): Meet the mapmakers recording every remote road in Australia to keep travellers safer. “It’s the kind of thorough mapping that’s needed more than ever, as an increasing number of Australians get lost and bogged due to our reliance on mobile phone apps, such as Google Maps. The global mapping systems have patchy coverage of regional areas, and often don’t function out bush […]

#DrivingDirections #Google #GoogleMaps #WTF

'“The District has become aware that Google Maps is directing drivers to routes through private property and open fields to access Rendell Drive, Shamanski Drive, Paisley Drive, Heritage Lane, and Stenquist Park,” the district said. “These routes are not legal or safe public access points.”'

https://vernonmorningstar.com/2026/02/27/google-maps-directing-traffic-through-fields-around-coldstream-road-closure/

CTV News: Montreal’s Trudeau airport warns Google Maps is sending drivers to wrong address. “The Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) is warning that a Google Maps orientation issue is directing drivers to the wrong address.”

Donegal News: Council request Google Maps change misnamed Letterkenny road. “The name was coined in error by Google Maps a number of years ago, but much to the annoyance of locals, it has stuck, so much so that Donegal County Council have even referred to the road as the Grange Road…. This confusion has led to problems for delivery drivers, taxis and people who have recently moved to the […]

Waze Blog: Drive with “SpongeBob” on Waze. “The world’s favorite sponge is jumping in as a navigator for an open-road adventure! To celebrate the upcoming release of ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants’ in theatres December 19, SpongeBob is bringing his nautical charm, quick wit, and bursts of positivity to your daily drive.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/12/05/waze-blog-drive-with-spongebob-on-waze/

Phone Arena: T-Mobile just lost a customer forever thanks to a Google Maps ad that nearly caused a crash. “The author described driving toward a destination when Google Maps suddenly asked whether they wanted to add a stop at a nearby T-Mobile store. The prompt appeared in large alert-style lettering just as they were passing through an intersection, and they felt that any unexpected movement […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/28/phone-arena-t-mobile-just-lost-a-customer-forever-thanks-to-a-google-maps-ad-that-nearly-caused-a-crash/

Somerset Live: Tiny Somerset village bombarded by lorries as residents beg council for help. “Chair of Lullington Parish Meeting Gus Colquhoun said the trouble started around six months ago when Google Maps started advertising the village as a shortcut to Frome…. Since then, lorries have gotten stuck and been forced to reverse back through the village. Meanwhile, Grade II listed walls have […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/26/somerset-live-tiny-somerset-village-bombarded-by-lorries-as-residents-beg-council-for-help/

Weekly output: Google’s live lane guidance, Candela’s battery-electric hydrofoils

LISBON–I traveled here to speak at my ninth Web Summit conference in Europe via another EU city that I’m quite fond of, Barcelona. The Mozilla Foundation had the good taste to host its Mozilla Festival there and then provide me with a travel stipend to cover the event, so of course I was willing to start my Web Summit trip a few days early. Even though that left me little time at home between working a 15-hour day Tuesday as an election officer and then heading to Dulles Airport Wednesday afternoon.

11/4/2025: Safe to Go? Google Maps Adds ‘Live Lane Guidance’ for Polestar 4 EVs, PCMag

PCMag had two stories under my byline this week, and this was the one I actually wrote this week to cover an update to the built-in Google navigation in one of Polestar’s battery-electric vehicles. The other involved my editor updating a post I wrote in May about President Trump withdrawing his nomination of private astronaut and payments billionaire Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator, the new plot twist being that Trump had changed his mind again and had re-nominated Isaacman. I realize how confusing that last sentence can look. 

11/7/2025: This battery-electric hydrofoil could supercharge a ferry transformation, Fast Company

Two years after getting an introduction to the Swedish startup Candela’s battery-electric hydrofoil sport boats on the San Francisco Bay, I enjoyed an update of the experience on waters I know much better–the Potomac and the Anacostia. With a longer word count than I had for that PCMag report in the summer of 2023, I went into much more detail about Candela’s ambitions to get into the passenger-ferry business, its likely competition in that market, and potential obstacles to electrifying ferries.

#Anacostia #batteryElectricVehicle #Candela #cleanTransportation #drivingDirections #electricBoat #EVs #ferry #GoogleMaps #greenTransportation #navigation #Polestar #Potomac

CBC: Google Maps error shows DVP closed. City of Toronto says it’s open. “If you were driving around Toronto Saturday and checked Google Maps for the fastest route, you may have seen the Don Valley Parkway was closed. The only problem: it wasn’t.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/10/07/cbc-google-maps-error-shows-dvp-closed-city-of-toronto-says-its-open/