Sweet new Mapping feature

[Mike Circo]

Yahoo maps has added something I've wanted for YEARS.

You give your start and end destinations and it plots a route. All the mapping software sites do that. But very often the "guessed" route may go through construction or take side roads which are shorter but much slower and you want to adjust the route.

The new Yahoo map thing allows you to grab the route line and drag it to a new location. When you let go, it remaps your route to follow your suggested general direction.

I have wished for this many times and someone figured out how to make it happen. Kind of fun to compare different routes for the same trip. It even pops up a window showing the original and "new" distances and times. The trip I was planning showed my route to be only 11 miles longer, but I know it will be much faster due to avoiding Chicago city traffic.

(No connection with company, just thought it was cool)
M

[Jason Beam]

Bout time Yahoo caught up with Google, eh? :D

[James Jaragosky]

Bout time Yahoo caught up with Google, eh? :D
Ya, I have been doing this with Google for years.

[Eric Larsen]

I'm looking for a map website where I can plug in multiple addresses and have it plot a route. (Like a big shopping day, for instance.)

[Don Abele]

I'm looking for a map website where I can plug in multiple addresses and have it plot a route. (Like a big shopping day, for instance.)

Eric, you can also do that with Google. Punch in the from address then "to" than the to address. After the results come up, click on the "Add another destination" link and enter the next stop. Continue until you've completed all your shopping and then enter home as the final destination!

Be well,

Doc

[Jason Beam]

Don has you covered if you know the order you want to visit each destination in.

I don't know of a system that will figure out the best route to take, though ... I'm sure it exists somewhere. Seems like something those standard Maps software systems you can buy would do - maybe Google's got something like it, too?

Knowing what I know of Google's maps API, it is fully possible to write the app using their system. Maybe when I'm past this phase of doing things I enjoy after work I'll write one of those :P

[David Christopher]

I'm looking for a map website where I can plug in multiple addresses and have it plot a route. (Like a big shopping day, for instance.)

Go to the harley website click on experience then ride planer and you can put as many addresses as you want....it will also give you gas stations and motels

[Chris Damm]

Mapquest has had this feature for some time now, too. It looks like Yahoo is finally catching up with the competion.

[Eric Larsen]

Eric, you can also do that with Google. Punch in the from address then "to" than the to address. After the results come up, click on the "Add another destination" link and enter the next stop. Continue until you've completed all your shopping and then enter home as the final destination!

Be well,

Doc

Google won't plot the most efficient route - it assumes you'll place all the addresses in a logical order.

Sometimes, I have a ton of errands, and a couple places are addresses I'm unfamiliar with. It would be nice to plug in eight addresses and have the mapping software plot the best route to take you to all eight and back home in the minimum amount of time.

[Todd Burch]

This is the classic "traveling salesman" dilemma. Lots of solutions out there for this.

[Ed Sallee]

I like google maps.....

It allows you to make any kind of map you want. Check out this map of "Where My Projects Landed" (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109631115868237886971.000468b6d3a59feff0c3f&ll=28.921631,-144.140625&spn=127.280139,235.546875&z=2)..... you can click on the pins and see photos and such....
We should make up a map like this for Creekers....

[Eric Larsen]

This is the classic "traveling salesman" dilemma. Lots of solutions out there for this.

I'm not trying to be flippant, but could you post links to a few? I haven't found a website that handles more than one or two addresses. This would be a godsend, because even after two years, there are parts of Las Vegas I simply don't know very well.

[Don Bullock]

...
The new Yahoo map thing allows you to grab the route line and drag it to a new location. When you let go, it remaps your route to follow your suggested general direction.

...

I wish the GPS in my van would do that. I get tired of it telling me to make a u-turn when I decide to go a different way.:eek:

[Todd Burch]

Here's a good intro to Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/tour/index.html

TSP (Traveling Sales Person) Interactive program:
http://www.tsp.gatech.edu/maps/index.html

Todd

[Eric Larsen]

Here's a good intro to Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/tour/index.html

TSP (Traveling Sales Person) Interactive program:
http://www.tsp.gatech.edu/maps/index.html

Todd

Unfortunately, neither does what I'm looking for. (TSP, might, but it's been chugging away with the message "solver collects distances" for my five Las Vegas addresses for the last 20 minutes.

Google Maps plots a route based on the order of the addresses received -- even if the route is ridiculously convoluted. It is possible to re-order the addresses (which is what I do now), but it seems to me it should be possible to do this automatically.

I'd pay a subscription fee if there was a website that did the route plotting that I want, and allows me to upload the information into my GPS so I don't have to program it.

Call the website "shoppingday.com" or "multiplestopsGPS.com" or whatever.

[Jason Beam]

Get enough people to say that, Eric, and I might be persuaded to write it! :D

[Eric Larsen]

Get enough people to say that, Eric, and I might be persuaded to write it! :D

Parsing the website addresses to the portable GPS would be a pain. My TomTom isn't satisfied with "Las Vegas Blvd" It has to be "N Las Vegas Blvd" or "S Las Vegas Blvd" or it hasn't a clue.

It's a real pain when you don't know if the business you're looking for is on E Flamingo or W Flamingo. It makes a huge difference in this town, and it still drives me batty.