The Shellgeostar Web site, first launched in 2000, now attracts around 20 000 users per month with an average 10% monthly growth, says Web site developer Richard Masefield. ITWeb revisited the site to see what all the fuss is about.
Shellgeostar is a route planner for South African motorists, with a growing list of additional information and services likely to be of interest to tourists.
The most striking thing about the service, especially with the tortoise-paced Internet connections in SA, is that the route planner takes minimal time to download.
The route planner is a great way of finding your way from A to B, offering a map and written directions to a given destination. Users can input the street and city they are starting from and the exact destination, and immediately call up exact directions down to the last few metres. Users can choose between the shortest and fastest routes, and directions and step-by-step maps can then be printed out for use on the trip.
Unfortunately the writing is a bit too detailed. On the N1 highway, for example, the motorist is reminded every time it moves from bypass to freeway and back again, which makes the directions a little long-winded and sometimes confusing.
In some cases, the directions don`t mention useful landmarks like towns and cities, stating merely that the motorist will be on "Route X for 500km". Most people would like to know about towns en route - in case they are hoping for food or fuel.
Added to the route planner is a list of accident hotspots. If looking to break South African road laws in any way, be sure to check what it will cost as different provinces slap motorists with different fines for the same offence.
Shellgeostar also offers five-day weather forecasts to help plan a drive or long weekend getaways, and features a limited accommodation guide and some brief descriptions on the less travelled places.
The site is more than a travel planner and gives the sports enthusiast a host of sports contact details, from golf courses to darts and cricket unions.
The entertainment guide is another useful link if planning a night out during an overnight stop or at the destination, as it provides a list of events and places to eat. However, the list could use a little more information.
What does help with certain selections is that the options are regional and in some instances broken down into towns.
The site also provides news and sports updates, with particular reference to motoring. There is also the option of signing up for a My Life service with a personalised calendar and live updates on petrol prices or new movie releases.
Perhaps the site should consider live updates of traffic warnings and accident reports, which would give the user advance warning of places to avoid.
On the whole, this is a useful service in that it goes beyond being helpful when planning a getaway but can be used for everyday driving within a city too.
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