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Google Maps Now Does Interactive Re-Routing
An anonymous reader writes "Remember how cool it was the first time you used MapQuest or Google Maps or Google Earth? You'll feel like it's the first time again, when you use interactive dragging of routes on Google Maps. Some of the folks from the development team have even whipped up a handy video to explain the concept."
People keep posting on other sites about how brilliant this is and how amazing Google's programmers are. Although I do really like it myself, all it does is make add another trip location where you click, and it's just a matter of calculating the route from the start to your point and from your point to the end, using the same stuff they've allready programmed. There's almost nothing new here.
i noticed this today and its a good idea though the most complaints i hear from my customers (uk) when i point out how Google maps works and how to use it is the accuracy of driving directions, and so they tell me after using that they still prefer to use Mapquest/AA even though their visualisation of mapping is inferior to Google's, fancy draggable routes mean nothing if the directions are wrong or inadequate for route navigation and so i cant really argue with them because its true (in my/customers experience)
while calculating directions is a very complex task (1 way systems, roundabouts, roads closed etc) i think this is a challenge that Google could excel at
I'd like to see editing of the small turn maps that they have on the print screen. I don't need a little map to show me the turn out of my street at the beginning on the trip. I always get rid of it.
However, I would like maybe to see the 3 or 4 major turns in the trip, or a close-up view of some smaller, complicated streets that don't really resolve in the map of the entire trip.
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
I can now build customized directions for friends and family. So often the googlemaps or mapquest directions are correct, but not quite the best route, due to traffic, construction, or even landmarks.
I can use this now, and my friends will not have to make the awkward left turn near the railroad tracks, and / or uturn, when it's just easier to make another block.
what? what I thought we were in the trust tree in the nest, were we not?
I also noticed that they did not solve the "traveling salesman" problem. If you add multiple stops, it will happily have you doubling back on your route. I have not yet seen a mapping program what will organize your stops in an optimal patters.
Yes, I know that a solution to the traveling salesman problem would take an extreme amount of procesisng power (maybe years). But there are shortcuts that are "good enough" and can be accomplished a fraction of a scond on a modern processor even with 20 stops. Doing five or so stops should be a piece of cake. You just need to develop reasonable hueristics.
"-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
Don't forget the rule. It's:
1) white guy
2) chinese girl
3) black guy
4) disabled female muslim
5) someone spanish looking
6) guy in a wheelchair
7) fat person
check this link http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/.
A great tool that i have been using for long time.
And no, I have nothing better to do on this fine Friday evening. Heh.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
I've been waiting for something like this for almost 10 years now. There have been countless times where the directions I'd get out of a map service are slower, even though technically shorter, than they could be. If I know a particular street is a mess because of construction, it will be nice to get a route that avoids that.
I particularly like the fact that now it will update the estimated travel time instantly. We are going to Southern CA this summer, and I wanted to know how many hours I would be adding to make a detour to visit family. I like how I was able to drag the route around and see the travel time change each time.....
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
*yawn*
All in North America, you piker!
Two weeks ago, I was getting directions to a casino where I had concert tickets.
I thought the direction on the freeway was odd, and then it missed entirely, passed into Colorado, across to Boston, "swim the Atlantic"[1]and concluded in France. Even with the zip codes at both ends, this continued to happen
[1] No, I'm not making this up!
hawk
I discovered this feature only *after* cycling 20KM to a softball game the other night (I'm an overweight 44 year-old). The distance looked so small on the map and Google didn't inform me that it was uphill both ways. Bastards.
It seems like Google is starting to fall into the same trap MS did, adding every feature that sounds neat because they can. This may elicit a response of "oh neat!" from people who read about it, but how often will you actually use it? I have a tough time imagining myself saying "oh I want to go 20 minutes out of my way so I can drive past the beach on my way to get my oil changed". My guess is that more people will accidently mess up their route when they are viewing the map than will get any real use out of it.
Although I think that the basic idea is terribly useful, the implementation of it appears to be pretty good.
Cool.
I use mapmyride to plan cycling routes, and noticed that it can now follow roads automatically, so now I only have to click on intersections instead of meticulously laying out the whole route. Is that related to this new feature from google themselves?
i can do this with my years old GPS device. nothing new here.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Really all they have done is allow you to input a waypoint along a route and automatically reroute to get to/from it along your track. It just appears like you are moving the track, when you are really entering a waypoint. This would be considered innovative if we still lived in 1998.
Why do I suddenly feel like singing the Madonna hit, "like a virgin, touched for the very first time"?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Sadly, it seems as though the "swim across the Atlantic Ocean" Easter egg has been removed due to this new feature. Hopefully they found a soon to be discovered successor to take its place.
There was a time when it was "cool" to use MapQuest?
It's a great feauture. I'd really like to be able to download the route in GPX format to use with my GPS, I hope they'll add the feature.
That was funny! At least I wasn't modded informative.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Is it possible to route a destination through a junior college acting class?
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
if Clippy pushed the route around with his...clip
This is an awesome feature. I really wish that they would have some way where you could print a higher than 72 DPI version of the maps (i.e. export to PDF for printing)..
Evolution: love it or leave it
You all can thank me, because I am the one who requested it.
I suggested this to Google about two years ago. I ride motorcycle and wanted to be able to map a route, then email it to friends who may not be familiar with the area where we where going. None of the mapping sites at the time let you actually change any part of the route other than via set parameters, fastest, no tolls etc. Very cool.
Another Google feature invented more for its coolness factor than for its utility. Meanwhile, Google maps still lacks the most basic online maps feature: bookmarked locations. Yes, there's the weird feature that calls up old destinations if you can remember some part of the address. But I want a simple drop down list. Not hard to implement. Which is why Google doesn't have it — nobody there finds the chore challenging enough.
I used to be the worst kind of Google fanboy, orgasmic at their every little accomplishment. But nobody there seems to want to do the scutwork that that turns a collection of cool features into a real product. It's lame.
Oh yeah, and when are they going to fix those stupid bugs in the Firefox version of the Google toolbar?
The last time I ranted on this subject, I mentioned that I still used Yahoo maps some of the time because I sometimes needed features (like the bookmarks) that Google lacked. People sneered at me, pointing out stuff like Yahoo still using forms to enter addresses. Well guess what? Yahoo maps no longer uses forms either. And they zoom in and out the same way Google does. And their traffic reports are better. In fact, they've copied Google Maps feature for feature, and in many cases improved on them. Guess how often I used Google Maps now?
Isn't that quote from Full Metal Jacket, not Stand By Me?
Firstly, excellent work Google Maps guys. This works beautifully - I can correct routes I take (359 to 323 miles in recent attempt) and send a URL to somebody. Awesome! I can also use it at tax time for figuring out mileage.
So, one last feature request. Frequently I have several stops to make on a trip and I'd like Google Maps to figure out the best path to get me to each of them (including traffic, of course) and then back home again. Maybe you could put this on the list for the next release? Killer feature, I tell 'ya.
You'd make this CS nerd's life easier - Thanks!
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Drag-able routes are pretty cool, and no doubt very useful to some. However, I am between vehicles, so wake me up when Google Maps can plan my bus/subway route. It takes far too long to wade through pdfs of schedules and routes on my local transit system website.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
It seems a bit conflicted as to where Elk is :|
It's actually located on the left, not where the green arrow is.
Max.
Someone explain WHY THE FUCK Google Maps ruotes are STILL inferior (i.e., generally longer) to Mapquest's?!
/.'ers?
In March 2006 I was raving about Google Maps to someone when she said: Their routes are always too long compared to Mapquests, no thanks. I thought, this chick is ignorant, turned out I was the ignoramus. This was in Loudoun County, VA. I am a born New Yorker, "no sleep till Brooklyn," boy and till 4 weeks ago I endured GM. Finally, I added a bookmark[1] to Mapquests driving directions page (their site is a blight, ads and obfuscation, hence I had never really tried them before compared to GM's Tufte-like simplicity/power-of-information-conveyance).
Go ogle stop with the add-ons -- Street View; Low-level-zoom edifice schematics; subway station locations; Drag & drop the blue line to customize your route; Avoid highways; My Maps; and most annoying to a (dial-up) user the new 'enhancement' of "Link to this page?" which I formally used to unstick/refresh-complete the graphic tiles when they become stuck and left me with missing route tiles OR to alleviate Google servers loading kajillion layers OR endlessly loading gad-knows-what!!! Dangit three bangs as this one really annoys. *sigh* -- and fix the basics!
+ Fast routes.
+ Accurate routes! In NYC I once had GM direct me from one part of Williamsburg to another via the Williamsburg Bridge![2]
+ No toll routes!!!
+ Total tollS calculation! Come on! I want to know if a route from 10013 to 20147 is worth ~$17.50 in tolls or an extra 90 minutes of my travel time?! And if I had a scenic choice, WTF, no brainer. That Jersy Turnpike is a boring mother! And why the fuck is the Battery Tunnel always a vital route to Manhattan from Brooklyn[4]. What, you California boys are like Bloomberg, out of touch? FYI, 99.99% of New Yorkers take the effing Hicks street approach to the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridges. Granted, MQ does the same fuggin thing in this respect, but, at least they offer "Avoid This" in their options. Although it's buried under "Add a Stop" and they drop the Web 2 Ou sliding map for a fixed old timey one. Good grief, get back to work you Manhattan Portege carriers. My, this was a long item. ^.^ <-- New school. Fuck that: =)
+ Integrate traffic congestion into ETA. Further, allow entering departure time, incorporate it to realistically PROGNASTICATE ETA thusly? Using my GPS/navi unit I know to add 15 minutes when leaving my environs for the Holland Tunnel; Belt Pkwy East AFTER 3 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, and, 2 p.m. on Fridays. It's not magic, I have observed and can now predict the pattern. In New York City. But other routes' insights elude me, and Garmin tarffic covereage is limited to Metro areas and is not gratis. Geddit. Entre into meo corazao, de nuevo.
+ When are you Google guys going to ply Bloomberg, a la Sen. Patty Murray, for (D, WA, ah, ah 'nough clues? 8) for your 76 9th Avenue Google Lair influence? Come on, get with the MTA train (oh, pardon, Subway), Bus line mapping scheize already! I want to know how to get to Brooklyn Brewery's faux, nominal[3], beer facilities from Red Hook, hipster nouveau. BTW Red Hook beer for sale in Fairways is from New Hampshire, and WA I think. I know I know, almost got me too. Oh, it got you? Soright, try Sam Adams Cream Stout, it's what I imagined Guiness ought to taste.
+ Shortest distance routes.
+ Scenic routes!! How about beating Mapquest MEANINGFULLY and the AAA for once.
+ Remove the 100 entry barrier to my favorites routes -- this one made me buy a GPS/navi unit.
+ May be I missed it but: Use/make a standard way of dumping route data to XML so I can harrass Garmin into a way to import it. Garmin sucks in this regard. Pointers welcome,
Now I use MQ for routing printouts, GM for easy VISUALIZATION of destinations, and GPS mapping. <-- Here MQ sucks dick. WTF, low haging fruit.
But, seriously why the fig has not GM improved the route algorithms?
[1] http://www.mapqu
The brain-dead routing generated automatically has made me want manual re-routing for months now.
--- Bill
Sooner or later Google will discover that Mexico has roads, rivers, and TOWNS.
And while they're working on bus/subway schedules, hopefully they'll also add "walking directions" to the feature list. I don't have a car either, and I'm pretty annoyed by it giving me directions that are twice as far as necessary due to 1-way streets.
If you want a nice laugh, try using the new feature to plot the same route you would walk through a downtown area. It'll send you all over the map.
Does anyone have an idea about why google is taking so long to add the Mass Transit feature, for any major US cities such as New York? http://www.google.com/transit . Seems like this feature would get more long term use than any of their other products and might have tremendous social consequences and yet its not a priority.
Famous Last Words...
Hint: Remove the zip code if you want the official city location.
A little experimentation will show that Google tries to put the pointer at approximately the middle of the zip code when you only specify a zip code, so let's think about what happens if you specify both a city and a zip code.
Rhetorical question: Where would you expect Google to put the pointer if you typed in "Los Angeles, CA" and then specified a zip code that's 10 miles from down town? Personally I'd expect Google to ignore the city name and put the pointer at the middle of that zip code.
Elk is *cough* a bit smaller than Los Angeles, but I'd still expect Google to ignore the city when you give a valid zip code for that city. By specify a zip code you've told them that you're more interested in the zip than the actual city.
Google maps is nice but it still misses major features (maybe I just don't know they got it but I doubt it):
1. Overlay radio station coverage on travel map
2. Overlay cell carrier coverage on travel map
3. Route via streets only - no highways. Some competitors allow this.
4. Elevation/wind profile/local weather forecast along the route (e.g. for biking)
5. Allow user to specify routing constraints (my fav: show route with fewest numbers of turns)
6. Plan multi-day trip based on projected start times and end times for each day. Suggest local hotels.
At least it now lets you drag the routing away from some of the really bad choices it makes.
(provided you know what to avoid)
I still like the NJ to FL routes that jump off of 95 to go thru DC and Baltimore. Tho getting it to avoid using the AC Expressway and choose a route direct to the destination requires some effort.
Mapquest makes the same errors too, mapping/routing AI still seems to have its own sense of humor in general.
Well, if you're a AAA member you can get this now. For example, I just did a 1,300 mile drive and used AAA's website to get the directions. You set the starting location and the destination and then you can add things like construction information, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, etc. You can add multiple stops, force it to take certain routes, etc. It ends up with an overview similar to what MapQuest and Google Maps do, but then it also gives around 30 pages with detailed maps of every intersection and major area, alternatives, etc. It's really nice.
You're aware, I hope, that AAA has been doing this for about 30 years....manually.
You've always been able to go in to an AAA office and get a map package like this. It has some sort of funny name, maybe a "TripTix"? You could tell them your start and end address and date of travel, and they'd do up a nice customized route plan for you, with information on traffic and other possible delays, with your route highlighted and nice typed directions. Basically they'd take maps for each step of the way, highlight them, bundle them with all the directions and other info, and bind them all together in a nice neat package. Very labor-intensive -- I'd be surprised if they still offered the service. Last time I went to get one was about 10 years ago, and I think they had cut you down to one per member per year.
Used to always get them for family vacations back in the day. Probably still have a few around too.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
I, as many others, have a GPS system. More specific a TomTom. It would be really nice to have an extra feature where I can save the map as a TomTom (or any other device) Itternery and then load it onto my GPS.
They could just add a link, so it would read at the right above the map:
[]Print []Email []Link to this page []Download route for GPS
That would mean the best of both worlds and at least I would use google maps.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This isn't a troll! It's just against Slashdot's groupthink.
At the risk of sounding greedy, how come no one has extended it to handle construction detours?
With the wild temperature swings between seasons in Michigan, our roads are always being repaired. I can't imagine it would be too hard to scrape the projects from MDOT and tell Google to route around them.
The map data has nothing to do with the routes. All Navteq sells to Google and Mapquest is a massive amount of vector-data that maps streets in geo-spatial coordinates. It is up to Google and Mapquest to determine the shortest path between any two points using this data.
It is more difficult than it sounds. Discovering the shortest path in a weighted map is a simple, well known algorithm that any third year computer science major would have studied. The problem is in the weighting. Things such as speed limits, number of traffic lights, road conditions, speed limits of intersecting roads, ourly traffic patterns - all of these affect the amount of time one route takes over another.
Aside from the fact that it is impossible to be up-to-date with this data on a constant basis, some of it changes based on the time of day of your planned trip. For example your morning "shortcut" to work may not be any faster on the weekend when the main route is not as congested.
I think in general, all the mapping sites to a remarkable job given the data they have access to. It is highly unlikely ny one site is "more accurate" than the other picking routes all of the time. What is probably happening is the place where you are going has some factors that have changed recently, or have not been acounted for, in one site vs. the other. You would for certain be able to find counter-examples that make the other site look better at other places in the country.
I agree this is a very cool feature.
For several months I've been actively searching for new/different employment, & I use Google Maps all the time to get directions & find distances via different routes.
Just by chance I happened to discover this feature yesterday (a few hours before reading on slashdot) & thought it was great--but also thought Google Maps had always been able to do it!!
That's impossible! Since you got back to where you started, at the same altitude, that means you cycled through the same amount of uphills and downhills on the roundtrip. That's physics for you :)
Does it solve it optimally? I don't know that - but it does a good job for me.
This is a cool new feature. However, they also update the map data. Until recently the new development I lived in was on Google Maps so I had to use the nearest intersection. Not anymore! Good job Google.
General, you are listening to a machine! Do the world a favor and don't act like one.
I have a Garmin Rino120 with a standard serial interface for exchanging data with GPS programs. Is there any S/W out there that will take this info and interface wtih GoogleMaps instead? I have internet access in my car via the bluetooth modem in my phone, so it would be really cool to be able to do this...
Maybe not that intuitive a feature and I never saw any directions mention it, but this one has been there for some time.
Experience teaches only the teachable. -AH
I used the AAA mapping service online last fall for a 12-day 4400-mile roadtrip, and it was great! I carried my laptop with me, and could log on from wherever I stayed to update the routing when plans changed, particularly when I made hotel reservations a day or two ahead and got detailed to-the-door directions.
The directions never steered me wrong. I was very pleased.
I am sure today if you get a paper triptik from the local AAA office, they probably just do the online thing for you while you wait.
But,with the "Add a Destination" feature of Google maps, one can work out a pretty good plan for a whole multiple-day, multiple-stop trip, too. That is what I am doing for my 6000-mile trip later this year.
Your statement assumes the user wants their visits rearranged in this manner; what if you really need to visit places in the order you specified them?
If you want to organize them for minimal travel you just drag and drop your list of destinations on the left side, reordering them as it suits you. I was able to organize a 20-location My Maps in this fashion to see 20 apartments in 8 hours when looking for a new place (tied into housingmaps.com) - it made a huge difference in the number of places I was able to evaluate before making a decision.
I have found in Pennsylvania Google maps leaves out the route numbers for roads, and favors the route names. There is a number of routes in PA that change names a couple of times while maintaining the same route number. This is quite annoying as the route numbers are usually more clearly marked than the names. This is why I've gone back to Mapquest.