Does anyone know of a program similar to Streets & Trips?

I've used Streets and Trips from S&T 2000 to 2013 and several different Delorme mapping programs and I abandoned them all once Google Maps on Android phones became more like Google Maps on a computer. The nice thing about Google Maps is as long as I am signed into my Google account on the computer, anything I do on my computer gets carried over to the phone and vice-versa. I can do all my planning on the computer, save my destinations and my routes and then just pull them up on the phone when we are ready to leave.

When I plan a trip on Google Maps, I enter my starting point and my destination. If it is a new destination and I am unfamiliar with the route, I will zoom into the route and look for points of interest along the way. I can then check that point of interest to make sure it is still open. Google has a pretty good database of stores, restaurants and gas stations hours of operations and whether they are still in business. Then the route can be dragged to a point of interest to add it to your route. It works really nice if you are making a stop that is way off route.

One year we decided to stop to visit friends that were way off our normal route when we were heading to visit family in NJ. In Google Maps I entered my starting point (my home in Brunswick, GA), then I entered our friend's address (in Lynchburg, VA) as the destination. Then I map it. Google generally offers multiple routes to take and shows you how many more miles and how much more time each route takes. I pick the best route for me, then I can add another destination, in this case our family in NJ. I can add a bunch of destinations along the route.

There are several ways to get from Brunswick, GA to Lynchburg, VA. So what I will do is check the route multiple times across multiple days to find out which days are best to take which route at which time. For instance, if I needed to leave at a specific time and my plans had me driving during rush hours, I could check ahead of time which route has the least traffic during rush hours. Google also knows where construction is and where accidents are, so when I am getting ready to leave, I can check if there are a lot of accidents on my route and plan accordingly.

Another nice thing about Google Maps is you can save favorite places. Then you can just search for a destination by the name given to that favorite place so you don't have to remember address or city, state, etc.

I really liked Streets and Trips, but Google Maps is a lot more detailed, it offers real time traffic conditions as well as construction areas to avoid. It is very fast and it allows you to check reviews of restaurants you might like to stop at as well as hours of operations of other stores, restaurants, museums, etc. I know later versions of Streets and Trips had construction data, but I found it was not as updated as it could have been. There were several times we encountered construction that wasn't on S&T or entered an area that S&T said had construction which had already been completed.

-Michael

pianotuna wrote:
Matt,

Google maps for a specific area can be downloaded. Just pick an area that covers farther than you would dream of going.

Thanks Don,

And I have done that, but it still is not as good as SA because I have never figured out how to put my location from GPS on the working chart. And, I haven't figured out how to make it tell me where to plan an NOP or a fuel stop. All of those are things that SA did easily.

We often use my Android phone when we need, but it is also often being a hotspot then and it has gone out on overheat or battery (while on charge) when we are doing this.

I'm going to keep beating this mule.

Matt

Matt,

Google maps for a specific area can be downloaded. Just pick an area that covers farther than you would dream of going.

I am going to be using Street Atlas 2015 as long as I can. I have been trying to find Co-pilot, but cannot find a copy to use hands on. None of the on-line stuff is worth a tinker's ****. It is all on-line and when we travel, I have to be able to navigate off-line for at least a day and sometimes two. We aren't Blue Roads people.

With SA, I can plan an extended excursion and know where I will be looking for fuel and/or a NOP long before departure. AND, I can update as needed and the update wrinkles thought the plan and when something now longer works, it shows so it is no surprise.

The closest I have found on-line is a site called Furkot. It has a really steep learning curve and wants you to NOP at crampgrounds and tells you to buy fuel at places it knows without regard to price. (Watch out going into Illinois or Michigan.) If you enter a new ONP or fuel stop (you do this with the location marker) it will update, but it does have only part of the function that I could/can manage with SA. It does have the advantage of charts (maps) that are less than 5 years old.

The frustrated navigator

Matt

BaseCamp isn't that bad, the worst thing about it is the fact the smaller roads disappear when you zoom out. Planning a route is very easy, and you can get the latest maps. I don't like it near as well as Delorme Street Atlas, but sometimes you just have to settle.

Base Camp has a very steep learning curve and is NOT very user friendly in my opinion. And I work with GPS and mapping software a lot. Chuck

You may want to take a look at Garmin BaseCamp - it's FREE.

http://www.garmin.com/en-US/shop/downloads/basecamp

The BaseCamp software download is small - only 105 Mb. and installs easily on your PC (or MAC). However, it uses the map base stored in your Garmin GPS (or until you download a map update for your Garmin GPS). My last map base update for my RV-660LMT was 6.5 GB and took several hours to download over my slow broadband. Also the program will complain if you don't have an internet connection when you try to find a specific POI. Garmin does have some training videos to help you get started.

Fizz wrote:
It's still available...
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=30173

Sorry but you are mistaken. I went the whole routine and it ends up with a statement that the product has been discontinued. It suggests trying Bing maps.
S&T 2013 is not available anymore. I still use my copy for every trip and find almost all the roads are still good. Some of the places have changed but not too many to make it not a useful program.
Barney

I believe most, but not all, mapping programs, GPS, etc. use Navteq as their map source.

pianotuna wrote:
MS would have to pay big dollars for the maps--which are compiled by google.

If this were true it would also affect other companies producing map software and GPS units. Microsoft has its own mapping system called Bing Maps.

The demand for computer mapping software has dwindled in recent years. Most people are using cellphones, GPS units, and the internet for their mapping solutions.