Two characteristics of MAF/TIGER data, address range attributes and explicit topology, make them, and derivative products, valuable in many contexts. Consequently, firms like NAVTEQ [1] and Tele Atlas [2] (now owned by TomTom [3]) emerged to provide data with similar characteristics as MAF/TIGER, but which are more up-to-date, more detailed, and include additional feature classes. The purpose of the next section is to sketch some of the applications of data similar to MAF/TIGER data beyond the Census Bureau.
A February 2006 article by Peter Valdes-Dapena in CNNMoney.com [4] describes the work of two NAVTEQ employees. See the link above or search on "where those driving directions really come from."