For the HTML

<select id="routetype" name="routetype">

<option value="fastest">Fastest</option>

<option selected="true" value="balanced">Balanced</option>

<option value="quietest">Quietest</option>

</select>

when the jquery statement written below is executed, the default value is not shown on screen, however in the DOM it is set correctly.

$("#routetype > [value='quietest']").attr("selected", "true");