Map of the Week: Side-by-Side Router
January 31st, 2013 | Published in Google Maps
Map of the Week: Side-by-Side Router: Using Google’s API, Michael Schade - a contributor to Arlington, Virginia-based research-and-development startup Mobility Lab - has created the Side-By-Side Router, a tool that lets you compare driving, walking, biking, and transit options.
Why We Like It: Side-by-Side Router allows you to easily compare routes between two locations using the Google Maps API Directions Service. When you select a start and end location, it shows you all four travel modes that Google Directions provides, driving, walking, transit, and bicycling.
Each route is colored differently. Using Symbols to put arrows on the Polylines, it shows you the direction of travel. And to encourage you to be green, it uses Styled Maps to display a nice pale green background. It also uses simplified road geometry, and turns off neighborhoods and airports to declutter the map.
All in all, this is a nice use of the Google Maps API to present a complex set of data in an attractive and easily understood way.
Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team
Why We Like It: Side-by-Side Router allows you to easily compare routes between two locations using the Google Maps API Directions Service. When you select a start and end location, it shows you all four travel modes that Google Directions provides, driving, walking, transit, and bicycling.
Each route is colored differently. Using Symbols to put arrows on the Polylines, it shows you the direction of travel. And to encourage you to be green, it uses Styled Maps to display a nice pale green background. It also uses simplified road geometry, and turns off neighborhoods and airports to declutter the map.
All in all, this is a nice use of the Google Maps API to present a complex set of data in an attractive and easily understood way.
Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team