Apple’s data map collection efforts haver expanded from the Bay Area and gone to the east coast and to the southwest.
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.
Per Apple’s web site, Apple will be collecting data from the following Connecticut counties in the coming weeks:
Fairfield County, Hartford County, Litchfield County, Middlesex County, New Haven County, New London County, Tolland County, Windham County
The company is also expanding its Apple Maps van routes and data collection to include the following counties in New York and Arizona:
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 thought that Apple is using this data to aid in its self-driving car efforts as well as to collect additional information for its Maps applications.
The company’s vans were first noted in 2015, Apple using these vans to collect information and reduce its reliance on outfits like TomTom for its map data.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.