A method of encoding a continuous path within a road network using a digital map representative of the road network, said digital map comprising data indicative of a plurality of real nodes representative of road intersections of the road network and lines between real nodes representing roads between the road intersections, wherein lines are divided into segments, each segment being defined by a start node and an end node, each of said start nodes and end nodes being one of: a real node; or an artificial node, said artificial node being an anchor for segments not defined at one or both ends by a real node, said method comprising the steps of: (i) receiving a representation of a continuous path within the road network, said representation of the continuous path being a path list, said path list being a list of consecutively ordered segments existing in said digital map; (ii) storing a start position in a route search list, said start position being: the first segment in said path list when the start node of said first segment is a real node; or, where the start node of said first segment in said path list is an artificial node, the first segment appearing in said digital map having a start node that is a real node and which leads directly to said first segment in said path list; (iii) determining a shortest path within the digital map from the start node of the start position to the end node of the last segment in the path list according to a shortest path route search algorithm, said determined path being a list of consecutively ordered segments, the first segment in the list being the start position; (iv) comparing the determined shortest path to the path list, and when the determined shortest path is found to differ from the path list, identifying a deviation segment, said deviation segment being a segment in the path list and having a start node that is a real node, but not being the first segment in said path list, and, if the deviation segment does not terminate at the end node of the last segment in the path list, repeating steps (ii), (iii) and (iv) using said deviation segment in replace of the start position; (v) storing the last segment in the path list in said route search list if not already stored; and (vi) creating a location reference point representative of each segment in the resulting route search list, wherein the plurality of created location reference points form an encoded representation of the continuous path within the road network capable of being decoded using a different digital map representative of the road network to reconstruct the continuous path. (i) receiving a representation of a continuous path within the road network, said representation of the continuous path being a path list, said path list being a list of consecutively ordered segments existing in said digital map; (ii) storing a start position in a route search list, said start position being: the first segment in said path list when the start node of said first segment is a real node; or, where the start node of said first segment in said path list is an artificial node, the first segment appearing in said digital map having a start node that is a real node and which leads directly to said first segment in said path list; (iii) determining a shortest path within the digital map from the start node of the start position to the end node of the last segment in the path list according to a shortest path route search algorithm, said determined path being a list of consecutively ordered segments, the first segment in the list being the start position; (iv) comparing the determined shortest path to the path list, and when the determined shortest path is found to differ from the path list, identifying a deviation segment, said deviation segment being a segment in the path list and having a start node that is a real node, but not being the first segment in said path list, and, if the deviation segment does not terminate at the end node of the last segment in the path list, repeating steps (ii), (iii) and (iv) using said deviation segment in replace of the start position; (v) storing the last segment in the path list in said route search list if not already stored; and (vi) creating a location reference point representative of each segment in the resulting route search list, wherein the plurality of created location reference points form an encoded representation of the continuous path within the road network capable of being decoded using a different digital map representative of the road network to reconstruct the continuous path.