Don’t like the route Google Maps has given you to get somewhere? Now the map program will not only give you what it considers the “best” route, it will also let you drag and drop the suggested route to create your own customized alternate route as well.

If you’re not up for dragging and dropping the route to create your own Google offers a variety of “Suggested Routes” that it has determined based on a number of factors such as distance, number of turns, and total travel time.

Alternate routes aren’t really anything new. Most GPs units will allow you to create an alternate route for your travels, as well as bypass certain roads or places that you’d rather not pass through. Google Maps addition of alternate routes however is the first online map service to add the functionality to their system.

Adding the functionality to an online map creator will make it easier to manipulate your travels if you don’t own a GPS unit, or if you’re creating a set of directions for friends to an event and want to send them a particular way to get there.

From the Google Blog: ” For example, when driving between the two engineering offices in Washington, while we still return the WA-520 bridge as the primary route, we offer the additional suggestion of the I-90 bridge which you might prefer because it has carpool lanes; hover over a suggestion to see both routes on the map, and click on a suggestion to update the step-by-step directions… For those curious about what’s happening behind the scenes, here are some slightly technical details. Deciding which route is “best” involves balancing competing factors: distance, travel time, number of turns, and many more. We boil all these factors down to a “cost” associated with each candidate route and display the route with the lowest “cost.” But we don’t know about all of your personal preferences, some of which can mean a higher cost route is better for you. Now you can compare and choose!”

The alternate route option is definitely a welcome change, at least from my perspective. How many of you think you’ll take advantage of Google Maps’ alternate or suggested routes?

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