Ask HN: How is routing done on maps?

Re:Ask HN: How is routing done on maps? by gojomo on Tuesday February 17, 2009 @10:41PM (#485337)

Though Google shows the shortest route by default, you can drag the line to select alternate routes, and the instant updating suggests the other paths are already locally loaded. So their APIs may already provide (or leak) enough info for you.

But even if they don't, you can probably buy the same data from their source or another provider. (See that little 'Tele Atlas' copyright at the bottom of Google Maps? Or 'NAVTEQ' at the bottom of Yahoo Maps?)

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Re:Ask HN: How is routing done on maps? by weaksauce on Tuesday February 17, 2009 @11:40PM (#485364)

I haven't done a lot of research on this but don't they use a few metrics other than just the basic distance between the two end points? I would think it is a weighted average of a few metrics. Distance, average time(they have traffic data), number of stop lights, etc....

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Re:Ask HN: How is routing done on maps? by gojomo on Wednesday February 18, 2009 @03:40AM (#485529)

AFAICT, they prefer shortest time route, not shortest distance.

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