Vehicle navigation systems employ a certain route planning algorithm that provides the shortest path between the starting point and the destination point. The performance of a given route planning algorithm is measured through the degree of optimal route selection and the time cost to complete searching an optimal path. In this paper, various route planning algorithms are evaluated through computer simulation based on a real digital map database. Among those algorithms evaluated in this paper, the Modified Bi-directional A${ast}$ algorithm is found to be the best algorithm for use in vehicle navigation systems.