Yesterday, Google Maps added a couple of new features, though like most Google add-ons, they’re not really named anything specific. The most important feature to me was the addition of “dragging the blue line to where you want to go.”

Essentially, this allows a Google Map to be customized with a certain route you want to take, with a lot more intelligence and customizability than “avoid highways” that most online mapping services offer. All you have to do is map a route, then grab the blue line which indicates your route, and drag it to the roads you’d like to use. Google explains it in a cheesy video.

For example, this is the route that Google defaults to when I map from Goleta, CA to Davis, CA.
To Davis via 101

It defaults to taking Highway 101 freeway, which is a bit slow when you have to pass through the Bay Area. I prefer taking I-5 to Sacramento, even if it is a few miles further. A quick drag of the mouse, and I can change my route to take Highway 101 to Paso Robles, then CA46 and CA41 over to Kettlemen City, then up to Davis, and Google Maps automagically re-routes itself and gives me the results.
To Davis via 5

Just this past Thanksgiving, when Kristen and I were driving down to her grandparents’ house in LA, we decided to avoid the 101, and take the PCH (Highway 1) past Malibu to hopefully avoid some traffic, and have a nice scenic drive. I used Google Maps, but I had to manually re-route by adding a random stop in Malibu, then just ignoring that stop on my printed directions. Perhaps the Google Maps developers noticed people like me manually adding re-routing points and added in this “drag the blue line” feature. Or perhaps they, like me, were just frustrated at the inability for Google Maps to do that easily. Either way, I’m giving Google a few more gold stars for improving Google Maps as much as they can.

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