Another cool addition to Googlemaps

[Midwest Michael]

Google maps had made another tweek to their program that I think it pretty neat. Instead of offering just what it thinks if the fastest route, it offers a choice of suggested options.

For example, I plugged in Detroit to Kansas City which someone asked about and it gave 3 suggested routes: I-80, I-94, or I-70.

Now it could still use a few tweeks, as its labels and choices aren't necessarily ideal.

The I-80 route was pretty straightforward, I-94 and I-80 to DesMoines and then I-35 south.

The I-94 route was misleadingly named, as the section of I-94 it uses is the same as I-80. What makes it different is that is uses I-55 (which would have been a better name) to go down to Springfield, and then uses I-72 and some 2 lane roads to bypass St. Louis and joins I-70 near Columbia.

The I-70 route was simply bizarre. Instead of using a logical route like using I-75 or I-69 to go south to I-70, it still uses I-94 to go all the way over to near Chicago, and then goes back east to Indy via I-65, and then uses I-70. That suggestion adds 75 miles to the other 2 all interstate options to Indy.

So its a nice idea, but hopefully they'll keep working on it and tweek it into a more accurate and useful tool.

[Mark Sedenquist]

The last time I used Google Maps I thought it provided some alternative routing suggestions, but since I rarely use the application for this purpose I didn't really look at -- so thanks for noticing and testing this aspect of the program.

Mark

[Mass Tim]

I noticed that the other day and thought "is this new, or something I just never noticed?", so I guess it's new. It's a start towards getting away from the default of whatever Google deems the fastest route. Maybe at some point there will be tools to get more granular with route selection without having to keep dragging and dropping the route? Maybe I'm just getting lazy...

[Midwest Michael]

I guess I'm more curious as to how the average person will use this "new" info. If they see it an realize there is more than one option for any roadtrip, it will be great. Unfortuantly, I suspect a lot of people will see 2 or 3 options, and assume those are the only options that they have.

[PNW Judy]

But it's still better than people thinking they only have one option, imho.

I like the new feature. And I like dragging to play with routes. While some other websites are better for finding places along the way and other info, I love the Google map interface for route-building.

The new feature I like even better is that you can save your route to My Maps and merge it with a map you've created with points you've marked. No more having to painstakingly draw the route! This is an amazing advance and should make the maps used with the "roadtrips from __city__" articles much easier and quicker to create. And a more useful tool for those of us planning a roadtrip. Very cool.