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On The Go Maps just got bombed back into the stone age due new higher fees. Shame, it was a great resource.
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:
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
No satellite view, that I could find. To me, this makes it worthless.
I've been using www.goodrunguide.co.uk
What's nice is when you map a course it creates dozens of points along the route that can be dragged to modify and get the proper distance.
They've recently added a small yearly subscription fee which is more than worth it.
As a measurer, not new to the Forum or using mapping tools, I don't understand how these 2 new tools are better than Google Earth. What am I missing?
Designing a course and making the course map is a big part of what we do, sometimes more time consuming than measuring. A tool that would make these functions easier is certainly welcome.
The RRTC has, apparently, relaxed the interpretation of the rules for acceptable maps, but there are problems (file size) with some of the color maps (Google Map screen shot with the course traced on it) we have submitted. Does either of these new mapping tools resolve the file size and number of colors issues?
We recently had to prepare 8 different course designs before the race director's committee was satisfied. We used Google Earth, which allows saving and changing a map. It also provides pretty accurate distances. Do either of these new mapping tools provide similar functionality?
Instead of doing a screen-shot of GoogleEarth, how about putting the route into GoogleMaps and just have the street map imagery? That should be a much smaller file. If you have a Google account, make the map in GoogleEarth, save the kmz, then make a new map in GoogleMaps, importing that kmz. Then, you can do your screenshot.
If your files are still too larger, take the image into Gimp, and change to Indexed color (I believe that is what it is; I am at work and don't have Gimp on my computer). That should allow you to reduce the file size, and still have good resolution.
Thanks Duane, for sort of confirming that the new map tools are not really better than Google Earth. Importing the kmz file into Google Maps is a neat trick that saves designing a route in Earth then making a new map in Maps. The colors in the final screen shot are the problem with large files. I'm not savy enough to understand that. My final pdf files are all under 1 meg, but when Justin gets the png file it is much bigger, apparently because of the thousands of colors in the Google Maps Screen shot. I can use GIMP to reduce the number of colors, but I did not know the final version of the pdf file I send to the certifier (Jane) would become larger than when I sent it.
The problem I see with all this file manipulation to make a suitable map is that every new step takes us further away from the "anyone can measure a course for USATF certification" philosophy. Maybe that's why Gene and Jim think the new map tools are better. I still don't see it, especially for the course design function.
One of the things my best customer liked about On The Go Maps was the ability to share a simple link with race directors during design. It seems like there was another not quite as good OTG Maps but pretty good that people were using about 2014. Anybody remember it?
I have been using a tool called PlotARoute to very rapidly create and design alternative courses to share with the RD and/or race committee. It takes no more than a few minutes to outline a prospective course. It has street and satellite view. AND the unique feature is that it has ANIMATION which moves an arrow over the course to clarify the intended direction of travel and number of loops, where applicable, to quickly eliminate possible ambiguity regarding these important issues.
Here's a link to a course that I felt was too complicated, but mandated by circumstance and the Race Committee. The animation saves me from having to write a tome of explanation regarding loops and direction of travel over this complicated course.
Holland Tulip Festival 5K EXAMPLE of PlotaRoute:
https://www.plotaroute.com/route/563103
JJ
This is awesome Jeff. Thanks for sharing it. Very nice that it will import KML and other formats. I will continue to create my routes in google earth, but then share them with race directors with this site.
I second Mark's thanks.
I generally plot out the draft route for my RDs using Google Earth or GMaps (milermeter), take a screenshot of the route, then drop the screen shot into Corel Draw. Then, I trace the route with colored dotted arrow lines (sample attached). I save the image as a PDF and email it. This seems to do the job.
Of course, not everyone has CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator (comparable programs). I have found Open Office Draw less friendly to create this kind of image. Where PlotARoute will really come in handy is when I am proposing a multiple-loop course, or one in which the same path is traversed more than once. A great tool to have. Thanks, Jeff!
