Tour Mapping Software

[Steve Hammatt]

I'm interested in knowing what software tour planners find most convenient to use. I'm specifically interested in web-base (i.e. "free") programs work best. A feature I think I'd like to see is the ability to "click" locations/intersections, etc., so that a map can be produced on a turn-by-turn basis, not simply the quickest or shortest. We all know the quickest or shortest is often not the most interesting.

Thanks.

[oldcarfudd]

Steve, my quick-and-dirty answer is: "NONE!!!" Longer answer follows.

When I do a tour route, I don't use any software. I get county maps, find all the minor roads that go from Nowhere to East Nowhere, and link 'em up. I try to avoid busy towns and major roads unless there's a must-visit destination there. (Of course, sometimes the only way over a river, or a railroad track, or an interstate, is a busy road.)

The more detailed county maps also give hints about what would make a pretty tour route. A little road along a little winding stream is almost a gimme. A twisty little road from one stream valley to another suggests a challenging hill, both up and down.

When I have a route that looks good on paper, I GO OUT IN MY MODERN CAR AND DRIVE IT. This is the ONLY way to find glitches that the county maps (and, if you use them, the software packages) don't show. If there's a steep downhill to a stop sign and it looks as though someone could have trouble, I try to find an alternative. Failing that, I put boldface warnings in the instructions. Also, it's very common to encounter a road at an intersection where its name is different from the name on the map, or where there's no sign at all, or where the sign is hidden behind a bush. These things should be addressed in the instructions, like "Turn is 0.2 miles after mailbox 337".

When I think I've got the instructions right, I GO OUT AND DRIVE THE ROUTE AGAIN. I often find a "What was I thinking?" instruction. Then, if at all possible, I find a willing volunteer to take my instructions and go out and drive my route without me in the car. That person often finds places where I should have been clearer, or was just plain wrong. Also, that person sometimes criticizes some part of the route as dangerous, or avoidably boring. That's important information, and I listen.

I do tours in, and for, seriously ancient iron, like brass cars and 1&2-cylinder cars. When in doubt, I ask myself; "Would I feel comfortable following this instruction in my one-cylinder Cadillac if it were raining?" I like tours that challenge drivers and challenge cars, but I hate tours that terrify drivers and break cars.

I often tour without a navigator, so I'm delighted when the tourmaster makes the instructions short and sweet: Left at T, right at Stop, straight at light. If the French and Indians fought a major battle at this intersection, that's fascinating, but tell me in the description of the day's run before instruction 1, or tell me in an appendix. But the absolute worst are the instructions that were obviously done from a map or a software package, where the tourmaster never got his lazy butt out on the road to be sure the instructions matched the terrain.

Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

[R W Burgess]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> ...where the tourmaster never got his lazy butt out on the road to be sure the instructions matched the terrain.....</div></div>

Amen, brother Fitzhugh!

Wayne

[Paul Dobbin]

Good article, I agree with all you said and would add only that tours laid out and tested in modern iron are often

longer in time than is comfortable in old cars. Remember

that one modern car can do the tour in about half the time

it takes 50 old cars to complete it.

I enjoy the "the French and Indians fought a major battle

at this intersection" part and think it adds to the tour,

but agree it needs to be separated from the driving instructions, either by color or (in parenthesis) after

the numbered driving instruction.

[Mark Shaw]

I agree with Gil's policy of running the routes etc. after I have plotted them on my Microsoft "Streets & Trips" software.

On a recent BCA PreWar AfterTour we had to completely change the routes due to construction on the roads our tour leader had planned. We did it in less than 30 minutes with this software. Since we didn't have time to run the route, he checked the now route via aerial photos on Google Earth to make sure all the roads were paved by looking for a center line.

By the way; The "Streets & Trips" program provides online updates on construction detours, and the latest version of the software includes a GPS option so you can drive and plot your route at the same time.

[oldcarfudd]

Mark, now THAT i agree is worthwhile! Last minute road closings are every tourmaster's nightmare.

Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

[Guest EMF-Owner]

The last couple of tours I have worked on, I used Google Maps as a starting point.

http://googlemaps.com

I use the get directions part part of the site get from point A to Point B. Then the nice thing about Google Maps is, you can drag the route on the map to any street or road you like. So, if the default route took you down highway A, and you kow Highway A is too busy, drag the route to back road B. I just do that until I have a route I like, then I print the route which includes full turn-by-turn directions and distances.

Then the most important part, as has already been said, I run the route. If there are changes, I note them and when happy, I will again map the new route in Google Maps, including the changes so I get the turn-by-turn directions. This has saved me much time.

Go to Google Maps and try it. I think it is cool software.

John