SAN FRANCISCO – While drivers will probably always need maps to get where they’re going, these days, the maps are more likely to be generated from their computer or GPS unit than on a paper road map, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

With the increasing popularity and decreasing prices of in-car navigation systems coupled with the many online mapping services, such as MapQuest and Yahoo Maps, paper maps no longer seem essential companions on road trips as they once did.

Maps no longer take up prime real estate in many gasoline stations and convenience stores, either. Even AAA is handing out fewer paper maps to its members.

“There has been a gradual decline from the time when you could walk into any gas station and get a map free,” Jeff Lenard, NACS spokesman, told the newspaper. “Now you even have to go and search for them in some stores.”

However, not everyone is ready to write off road maps entirely. “I don’t think paper maps are going anywhere,” said Joel Minster, chief cartographer for Rand McNally. “But people may be using them differently, more as a companion to the online or digital map.”

“Paper maps offer big-picture geometry,” said Debra Turner, vice president of marketing for Compass Maps. “They can show you four or five counties, and not just the neighborhood you’re driving in.”

To keep up with the changing times, most mapmakers now produce and store their map information digitally in order to be able to sell that data in a paper or electronic form. Mapmakers also are exploring specialty maps for people with specific interests, such as Rand McNally’s NASCAR Road Trip Guide and Harley Davidson Ride Atlas.