MapQuest Route Planner
Route Planner with up to 26 Stops
How can you plan an optimal route with 26 stops?
The answer is MapQuest Route Planner.
Remember MapQuest? This is the most used tool during the days of printed directions. Many thought that the company has faded into the background with the advent of digital technologies. But no. It persisted and even came up with a precise tool that blew other route planners out of the water.
The MapQuest Route Planner lets you enter up to 26 stops and calculate them to give you the shortest route. You can enter the addresses one at a time or import them from an Excel or CSV file. Yes, only MapQuest can let you do it.
If you have the address, city, state, and ZIP code in the column, you can copy and paste it into the Route Planner. That is how convenient it is to use MapQuest Route Planner.
What is a MapQuest Route Planner?
MapQuest is formerly known as the Cartographic Services of the R.R. Donnelley and Sons, which later became the GeoSystems Global Corporation. It eventually turned into a web-based mapping service of AOL.
As an online mapping service, users can access any maps all over the world, obtain driving directions by providing their starting and ending locations, find hotels, hospitals, automatic teller machines, and many other features.
It also has a Gas Prices feature, where users can find locations and prices for gasoline and alternative fuel. Other features include:
MapQuest Mobile – for a monthly fee users can access maps and driving directions on their mobile devices.
MapQuest Traffic – send traffic updates on your mobile phone.
MapQuest Find Me – allows users to find a current location, share this location with their friends and find the nearby points of interest.
MapQuest Route Planner – a decade-old navigation app that allows users to get to their destination with the quickest and most efficient route.
The MapQuest Route Planner is a free, downloadable app that lets you plot up to 26 stops. This is helpful for businesses to optimize their delivery schedule in small batches.
Route planning is more of creating driving directions or routes for many locations in the most efficient way possible. There are many types of users and customers who need them including delivery companies, couriers, field service companies, food delivery businesses, and even drivers on personal journeys.
The MapQuest Route Planner has the following general features that can help drivers get to their destination.
- Plotting a map with multiple locations
- Route options for each journey
- Traffic information
- Map options in both street view and satellite map
- Navigation features
- Directions to multiple addresses
- Points of interest like hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.
- Dispatch features
- Import and export option to Excel and CSV file
MapQuest Route Planner
How to MapQuest Route Planner
Here is a step-by-step process on how to use the MapQuest Route Planner.
Step 1. Go to the MapQuest Route Planner website.
Step 2. Input your address/es.
You will find three subpages to input the starting and destination addresses:
Line by Line
Copy/paste
Import
Line by Line
Write line by line on the several given fields with individual addresses. While typing your information is being checked with the MapQuest database. It will give you suggestions for more accuracy.
Initially, you are doing a single destination. If you have multiple stops, click Add Another Stop. You can repeat this process up to 26 stops.
Copy / Paste
In the copy-paste mode, you are given a blank field with multiple lines available for you to paste the addresses into. This option is perfect if you have a list of addresses. You can paste one line at a time for a maximum of 26 lines.
Import
In the import option, you can upload a list of multiple addresses from a spreadsheet. You can either drag and drop the file on the appropriate box provided or click on the BROWSE button to locate your file on the device.
MapQuest provides a template to make sure that you have the correct format for this information.
Once you have imported all the addresses for your trip, it is time to customize your route options.
Step 3. Setting your route options.
Mapquest Route Planner has a few route options to optimize your route. These options include:
Optimize for shortest distance or shortest time
Allow Mapquest to re-order routes
Make the route round-trip or one-way
Optimize for Shortest Time / Shortest Distance
You have the option to choose to optimize your route by time or distance, depending on your choice for the journey.
Allow MapQuest Route Planner to Re-order Stops
When you select this option, MapQuest will further optimize the route by changing the order of the stops.
Round-trip Route
This option will automatically add the first stop to the end of the trip to ensure that the driver will end where the route started. It allows for the route to be optimized for the entirety of the trip.
Step 4. Completing the Route Settings
The route settings contain important information that will impact MapQuest route optimization. These are the basic constraints that you will find in other mapping and GPS software.
Unit (Miles/Kilometers)
Avoid toll roads
Avoid highways
Avoid ferries
Avoid seasonal roads
Avoid timed restrictions
Avoid country borders
Toggle the switch according to your preference and set the route.
Step 5. Share the routes
The MapQuest Route Planner provides you with multiple options to share the routes with anybody.
Here are some of the options:
Share it on social media (Twitter or Facebook)
Send routes to a driver’s mobile number
Send the route through email
Copy/paste the unique link and share it
Benefits from Using MapQuest Route Planner
This route planner is perfect as a simple route planner or a basic GPS navigation app. The following are the advantages of using MapQuest Route Planner:
Accurate route directions
Single-button tool for finding gas stations, coffee shops, grocery stores, food, hotels and shopping centres
Allows to plan a trip with up to 26 stops
Provide reliable information like traffic incidents, slowdowns, and a satellite map
Available for both Android and iOS
So, if you want to optimize your trip with the Quickest and Most Efficient route for free, why not try MapQuest Route Planner.
