Creating a Route

One of MapPoint’s most useful features, is its capability to calculate driving routes. The main route options are on the Route menu:

The Route Menu

Many of these items are only enabled if you have a route, waypoint, or location selected.

Select Route Planner to display the route planner task pane. The Overview and Legend task pane (on the left) will be replaced with the Route Planner task pane. This provides a number of route creation options and a list of the current route waypoints (“stops”). Here is an example with one waypoint defined:

Route Planner with one location defined and a second about to be added

To add a new waypoint, type the waypoint’s name in the Type place or address drop-down box at the top and press Add to Route. This name can be a pushpin, or a place name (as in this example). Here, Houston,TX has been added, and New York, NY is about to be added

MapPoint can calculate the road route as soon as you have defined at least two waypoints (i.e. a start and an end). The Get Directions button will be enabled. Press this, and MapPoint will calculate the route for you:

A simple calculated route

MapPoint draws the route on the map display with a blue line, and displays the Directions Pane above the map. This lists the entire route as a complete list of directions. Each direction has a time and distance relative to the beginning. Note that this particular route is very long and covers a number of days. By default, MapPoint will include a break for a new day after every eight hours of travel.

You can scroll through the directions, and you can zoom in on specific areas of the route. You can also print the route as text directions and/or maps using the print option.

As well as adding new waypoints by typing them in, it is possible to select them from the map. Do this by selecting the location (a place or pushpin), and right clicking. The resulting pop-up menu will have a Route option. Select this to display the Route sub-menu:

Route location popup menu

Use this menu to add the selected location as a start waypoint; end waypoint; or as an intermediate waypoint (ie. a ‘stop’ along the route). You can also select Get directions to get route directions to this location.

Press the Reverse Route button to reverse the order of the waypoints. I.e. the end waypoint becomes the new start waypoint, and the old start waypoint becomes the new end waypoint.