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Reply to "Found a free map tool better than Google earth"

On The Go Maps just got bombed back into the stone age due new higher fees.   Shame, it was a great resource.    

A New On The Go Map

I built On The Go Map in 2013 to teach myself web development and serve a daily need of mine: to plan running routes. Since then On The Go Map has served over 4 million people.

The website was originally built on the Google Maps platform, but in May of 2018 Google announced pricing changes that would increase website operating costs from almost nothing to over $30,000 per month, far too much for a side project. Since then, I rewrote On The Go Map from the ground up using OpenStreetMap data which is free, open, and constantly updated by a worldwide team of volunteers.

The new version is built on Mapbox GL, an advanced geospatial visualization library that may not work on some older browsers.

At first the new version will only contain basic functionality, but I will gradually add things back over time. In particular you will notice:

  • Roads or trails have changed This is because the maps are now based on OpenStreetMap data instead of Google Maps data. You can help fix the map by adding a note to let mappers know, or contributing a fix yourself.
  • Search box is missing I did not have a chance to do this before the pricing changes took effect. Stay tuned, but until then use the “find my location” button to pan the map to your current location.
  • No More Google Drive Google also announced in 2018 that the Google Drive API On The Go Map used to save routes is going away soon. You can still open routes you previously created from Google Drive, but you can not create new ones.
  • No elevation profiles I did not have a chance to do this before pricing changes took effect. Stay tuned.
  • No bicyling or driving routes I only had a chance to add walking routes before pricing changes took effect. Stay tuned.
  • No satellite view I am still looking for an afforable high resolution satellite imagery source. Stay tuned.

If you miss any of these features, please vote on them to help me prioritize which to add back first!

Thanks to Stadia Maps for hosting the map data, to the GraphHopper project that we now use for directions between points, and to you for using On The Go Map!

— Mike Barry @msb5014

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