Microsoft today shared more details about the new brand new feature called “along the route” in Bing Maps Preview. This feature lets you find places along your current route, such as gas stations, coffee shops, hotels, and more.
Microsoft explained this feature with a road trip scenario.
This weekend I’m headed to Samford University from Atlanta to take my little sister to her college orientation. We’ll be leaving Atlanta mid-morning so we will probably need some caffeine along the way. I’m kind of a coffee snob, so I want to find the coffeeshop that will be on our route, and I know driving through rural Alabama options will be limited. So I’ll go ahead and do my research ahead of time.
By getting my directions from Atlanta to Samford University, I automatically see in the “along the route” option in the directions card.
All I need to do is click the coffee cup icon to see cafes along the way. The results here are chosen to be the 20 most relevant and closest cafes to my route, so I don’t have to detour too far off the highway.
If there’s a particular section of the route where I know I’ll need a break from driving, I will zoom into that area and the coffee search results will refresh based on the map I’m looking at.
Once I choose the coffee shop I’d like to go to, I can add it to my route by clicking “directions.”
Source: Microsoft