For the past two years, Apple has been using vehicles around the United States and other countries to collect data for Apple Maps. Now, the company has further expanded those efforts, deploying a fleet of vans in Connecticut for the first time…
As noted on the company’s Apple Maps vehicles webpage, Apple is continuing its Apple Maps data collection in New England with camera and sensor-equipped vans for the first time. The expansion to Connecticut marks the 34th state in which Apple has collected Maps data.
Below is the full list of counties in Connecticut where Apple will be patrolling over the coming weeks:
Fairfield County, Hartford County, Litchfield County, Middlesex County, New Haven County, New London County, Tolland County, Windham County
In addition to the expansion to Connecticut, Apple is also expanding its Apple Maps vans to new areas in New York and Arizona. Below are those new towns:
New York
Allegany County, Broome County, Cattaraugus County, Cayuga County, Chautauqua County, Chemung County, Chenango County, Cortland County, Dutchess County, Genesee County, Livingston County, Madison County, Nassau County, Niagara County, Onondaga County, Ontario County, Orange County, Orleans County, Putnam County, Rockland County, Schuyler County, Seneca County, Steuben County, Suffolk County, Sullivan County, Tioga County, Tompkins County, Ulster County, Wayne County, Wyoming County, Yates County
Arizona
La Paz County, Maricopa County, Pinal County, Yuma County
It’s widely believed that Apple uses this data to gather advanced Maps data, such as Street View footage and 3D imagery. As Apple’s own self-driving car efforts continue to ramp up, however, some have speculated that Apple may also be using these vans to collect data to aid in that project. Of course, any sort of Maps data would be useful for autonomous driving, so it likely works both ways.
We first detailed Apple’s camera-equipped vans back in 2015, explaining that the vans were helping Apple work towards its goal of providing its own Maps data by 2018. Thus, reducing its reliance on companies like TomTom for Map data.
If you see an Apple Maps vehicle on the road, let us know about it down in the comments!
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