Customize Routes With Road Preferences

You can instruct PC*MILER to avoid or favor selected roads when generating a route. To try this out, let’s create a new route from Augusta, ME to Charleston, SC and then designate road preferences around Augusta. Whole roads can be avoided or favored, but in the steps below we’ll be picking road segments from the map.

1. Close both open routes (Routes tab > General group > Close All), then click New Route or press <Ctrl+N> to open a new route entry window.

2. Enter Augusta, ME as the origin, Oakland, NJ as a stop, and Charleston, SC as the final destination, using any available ZIP codes, then run the route.

3. In the Map tab, select Frame > and uncheck Auto Frame Routes.

4. Highlight Augusta on the stop list and double‐click to zoom into this capital city in Maine on the map. Notice that PC*MILER’s route travels on I 95 (the Maine Turnpike) going south from US 202 out of Augusta.

5. Right click on the map and select Avoids/Favors > Favor Roads from the menu (alternatively, you could click the Favor Roads button on the Tools toolbar).

6. On US 201, ME 27 that runs south out of Augusta, click on several different points above Hallowell. Green highlighting will appear, indicating a favored road segment. (For now, ignore the Add Comment box that opens.)

7. Now right click on the map again and select Avoids/Favors > Avoid Roads

(alternatively, you could click the Avoid Roads button on the Tools toolbar).

8. On the map, click on I 95 going south from US 202 to designate it as a road segment to be avoided. Red highlighting will indicate an avoided road.

A comment can (optionally) be entered for any road preference you create using the Add Comment dialog box that pops up. This comment gets stored in the

Avoid/Favor Manager along with the date the preference was created, and the length of the selected road segment. We’ll enter “Construction” as a reason for avoiding I‐95: type it in the dialog box and then click OK.

9. To take a quick look at this record in the Avoid/Favor Manager, select the Tools tab > Avoids/Favors group > Manager (the Avoids tab will be open) then close the window.

10. Next, open the Route Options dialog (click the gear button in the route window  and select Options) and check Use Custom Roads, then click Save. This step is crucial to running a new route that includes the road preferences you designated. If this option isn’t turned on, road preferences won’t be included in PC*MILER’s route calculations.

11.The route will rerun automatically when you exit the Route Options dialog – your route now travels on US 201 and avoids the Maine Turnpike.

TIP: To clear a road preference, you have two options: you can click again on the road segment to toggle this preference off (for example, with Avoid Roads checked in the right mouse menu, click the red highlighting on the map to remove it); or open the Avoid/Favor Manager, highlight the road, and click the “X” on the far right. Use the Delete All button to clear all road preferences from the tab.

Customize Place Names Tour Start Customize Routes to Avoid or Favor States