You've Come a Long Way, Baby! Technology Broadens the Boundaries for AAA Cartographers
By Grace Palsgrove
Editor, The AAA Touch

Maps have always been a big part of AAA’s service and in the past 10 years, technology has helped the association make giving directions much more detailed.

Mike Mouser, senior manager of GIS at AAA National in Florida, said the update of maps was a tedious, intricate event. When maps were updated manually, as many as 32 layers of information made one map. If something like an exit number on a highway was changed, the cartographer would have to identify how many maps had this route on it and then change the appropriate layer on each. So, for instance, if the number was on 20 different maps - on sheet maps, in Tour Books and on TripTiks - and each change took an hour, it would take 20 hours to make the change.

But times have changed and GIS has made it easier. GIS, or Geographic Information System, was introduced about 10 years ago. Cartography is only one aspect of this analytical tool used by businesses for everything from demographics to weather patterns. Now with GIS a cartographer makes changes on a computer instead of bent over a light table. The correction is made once and the computer changes the number in every instance.

"Ten years ago we had light tables and used etching film," Jan Coyne, Director, GIS Cartograph, at AAA National explained. "The artistry is still there but now it’s very technical. The end user, the members, shouldn’t sense that anything has changed but by using this underlying technology we can take this product further and make it accessible on the Web."

So you might think the 46 full-time and more part-time cartographers who use GIS to make their maps are sitting idly waiting for road updates.

Not so, according to Mouser, who’s been with AAA for 28 years. Now the maps are more intricate. When the maps were manual, only big cities were drawn to specific streets. Now, as members who use the internet TripTik feature can attest, address-to-address directions can be given from just about anywhere, no matter how rural. Also, the feature that allows us to zoom in and out means cartographers are drawing 14 different views of these addresses. Major changes on the TripTik maps are made twice a year. Construction changes are made more often.

"When cartographers used the traditional method of drafting tables, their world was in a much tighter box," Mouser said. "Now digital cartography has opened it up."

"I’m proud of our product and our on-line presence," Coyne said.

"We’re not just another directions site. Users can modify the route, our proprietary information is on there and so is the congestion info. I’m thrilled that we can take the TripTik that I’ve grown up with and place it on the Internet."

With cities changing and growing, more spottings in TourBooks are also needed and the cartographers are drawing these maps as well.

And the department is always thinking up new products to offer, like an easy-read atlas, which members can find in the Club Travel Store. And it is always considering new city maps. Of all of the sheet maps AAA offers its members, many are produced by outside vendors. Now more are made internally. This year Myrtle Beach, S.C., has been added to the AAA list and the club is considering publishing its own version of Kansas City or Honolulu. Not only does this control the content of the map, Mouser said, it also makes it more cost effective for the members.

"We are using the GIS to improve the products. It allows us to do more," Mouser said, adding that the technology has given them the ability to deliver more consistent products. "I think it’s a wonderful technology."

And the products are getting more technical every day. With wireless advances, cell phone users can get information right on their handset. And recently AAA and Circuit City introduced its In-Car Navigation System by Magellan with AAA Built-in TourBook Travel Information. The Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS Navigation retails for $399.99 and the 4040 retails for $499.99. And don’t forget AAA members get a Show Your Card & Save discount of 10 percent on purchases by visiting AAA.com/circuitcity and requesting a promotional code, which will be emailed to the member. The promotional code is applicable on purchases exceeding $199 online or via Circuit City’s toll free number 800-593-4391. Members may also present a printout of the emailed code at all retail locations. At this time, the retail stores cannot accept AAA membership cards for the discount; the emailed code must be presented.

"I couldn’t tell you what’s going to happen in three to five years," Mouser said, "because I’m blown away by what’s coming out in three to five months!"