Apple Maps is significantly better in my part of the world (New Jersey) than it was a couple days ago. Justin O’Beirne documented many of these improvements in an epic article, full of graphics that illustrate the types of improvements that were made:
On September 30, 2019, Apple’s new map expanded to the Northeast U.S. This is the fifth time that Apple has expanded its new map since its public launch in September 2018.
The before-and-after screenshots in his blog post tell a dramatic story about filling in all sorts of mapping data gaps. I am seeing the same kinds of dramatic changes illustrated in this article in the maps of my hometown in the metro-Hartford area and of my current town, in the metro-New York City area.
I hope that Apple was also able to improve its routing algorithms for driving directions. I have been disappointed with both Apple Maps and Google Maps on numerous trips to, and around, New York City in the past year. Both were bad at recommending a sensible route, and in similar ways.