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."

excellent feature

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

Re:excellent feature

That's interesting. I don't know about the rest of the world, but in the US Navteq provides the data for both Google Maps and Mapquest (and Yahoo! Maps as well, I believe). So you would think the directions would be no less accurate. On the other hand, I have definitely noticed the different services do often recommend different routes from the others, despite all being run by Navteq.

Anyone else know more about this?

Re:excellent feature

Maybe the directions were right and the inn was in the wrong place...

Maps != Routes

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'd like to see

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.

Re:I'd like to see

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.

This is why I don't bother with Google Maps or Mapquest any more. They're very primitive by comparison. Though, I do use Google Maps when I'm familiar with an area and am just not sure exactly where something is.

Re:I'd like to see

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.

See that number beside each point . . . try clicking it.

This is great for me

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.

Traveling salesman..

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.

Nice video

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

This was already done!

check this link http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/.
A great tool that i have been using for long time.

Next door and around the country

Here's about a 0.2 mile distance routed [google.com] via San Diego, Florida, Miami, random bits of Canada and back right next door.

And no, I have nothing better to do on this fine Friday evening. Heh.

Bout time.

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.

Plus it tracks time.

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 Almost Died. Thanks A Lot, Google

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.

Re:I Almost Died. Thanks A Lot, Google

http://www.mapmyride.com/ [mapmyride.com] will show you elevation profiles. I use this to plan my own cycling routes.

Bloat?

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.

Re:Bloat?

I have wished they had this feature almost every time I use it.

mapmyride

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?

done years ago

i can do this with my years old GPS device. nothing new here.

Re:done years ago

Do you think you could map a route for me and then fed ex me your old GPS device? Thanks in advance.

Not that big of a deal

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.

Re:Not that big of a deal

Given that ajax techniques were pretty much non-existant in 98, yep, it would have been considered innovative. Probably "nearly a decade ahead of its time" innovative.

I find it amusing (well, "annoying" is probably a better word) the way people, who have presumably never innovated anything of note in their lives, love to declare what other people have done to be "non-innovative". Why didn't you produce it for us in the time between 98 and now, if it was so easy and obvious?

Acting lessons

Is it possible to route a destination through a junior college acting class?

Very nice feature -- but printing still sucks...

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)..

You're welcome

You all can thank me, because I am the one who requested it.

Dragging and emailing routes

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 Way Cool Google Feature--Yawn

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?

Re:Another Way Cool Google Feature--Yawn

Um, I bookmark google maps all the time. Maybe you're stupid? Cuz when you look up a location it goes in the URL bar which if you add as a bookmark will go to that location.

Sorry, but you're just stupid. All of the people I know use google maps to route trips or find places. Works just fine.

Last Missing Feature

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!

Wake Me Up When...

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.

Elk, CA

It seems a bit conflicted as to where Elk [google.com] is :|

It's actually located on the left, not where the green arrow is.

Finally!

The brain-dead routing generated automatically has made me want manual re-routing for months now.

Just don't go to Mexico

Sooner or later Google will discover that Mexico has roads, rivers, and TOWNS.

Google Transit

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 [google.com] . 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.

Still ways to go...

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.

Now with less suck

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.

Realy nice, now make it usefull for travellers

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.

Possible use for Google Gears?

Maybe they could add in Gears support, do a route online, enable Gears and it could download the relevant parts of the map (say those pieces covered by the initial route, and a 15 mile area around it). Then assuming you have someone else in the car with you to operate a laptop, you could do proper "on the fly" rerouting as deemed necessary by traffic/road closures/floods (if you're in the UK at the moment!).

Construction detours?

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.

New feature and updated maps!

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.

How about a serial interface?

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...

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

There's almost nothing new here.

On the contrary, the response of the site has gone crap. They have managed to slashdot Google.

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

Just because they did their homework and programmed the original Google Maps with reusable code, doesn't mean that a new feature added that uses already implemented code isn't 'Amazing'.

Looking at the feature by itself is pretty nifty! Let's not judge it by saying "well, they didn't add any new code for this so it's nothing new..."

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

True, but that misses the point. Yes, it was possible before - in the same way that satellite imagery was available on TerraServer for years before Google Maps. The difference between possible and easy is all the difference in the world.

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

Its new because no one else has the feature. Quite useful feature too.

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

From a strict 'new technology' perspective: Agreed - nothing revolutionary. As an improvement to the way the average Joe can plans trips, done in a incredibly simple, intuitive fashion that non-techies will truly appreciate: Truly awesome.

-NB

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

There's almost nothing new here.

Really? Then why hasn't anyone done it until now?

I think it's a wonderful addition to online mapping & my guess is that anyone who can, will rush to add this feature.

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

Well, does it matter if they code is being reused? Hey, if they can reuse the same code to add new features every day, I'm happy!

If I wanted to do something like add an additional trip, there was previously no way I could do this besides printing out two maps and piecing them together.

Changing routes is great :)

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

The feature is great. It fixes most of the annoying things about autorouting maps. I know that certain routes are better, now I can easily dictate that they should be used just by dragging.

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

So please explain how they implemented the real time dragging and other UI elements without writing code.

oh come on!

That was funny! At least I wasn't modded informative.

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

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.

The difference between a user-hostile application and a user-friendly application is most often not the skill of the programmer, but the intuitive ui design of the programmer. The fact that this functionality was simple to implement merely makes the solution more elegant.

OT: PARENT NOT TROLL

This isn't a troll! It's just against Slashdot's groupthink.

Re:Nice, Yes, But It's Not Amazing

The feature [slashdot.org] you say is required has existed for almost eight [slashdot.org] years now.