Google Maps is much more than a mapping tool . Since its inception, it has been incorporating new social functions, search tools and integrating services to become what it is now: a global mobility application. It has completely changed our way of relating to the outside world, and a good example of this is the calculation of distances.
To find out how far away there is from one place to another, we can take a paper map, a ruler and a calculator, and spend a few hours doing scale and centimeter calculations ... Or we can use Google Maps . The tool can provide us with several different measurements, we are going to see some of them.
The first thing we have to do to calculate a distance is to locate one of the points on the map . For that, you have to locate the place on the map through the search engine. With the place selected, we will click on "how to get there", and we will choose the second point from which we want to measure the distance.
The search engine logically uses Google technology , so it is not only able to recognize names of cities or neighborhoods, but also those of a specific street, avenue or crossing, with its number, the name of a business, that of a station. meter or even the exact coordinates of a point.
Once we have selected the two points, Google Maps is able to show us the distance by road, public transport, or walking, which is usually the lowest . And it is that if we choose to walk we will not have to take into account the forbidden streets, those of one direction or those that are unpaved. The next shortest option is usually one of the proposed routes in private transport, although this does not mean that it is the fastest. The longest route between two points is usually by public transport, since this depends on the stops or pre-established routes to reach different destinations.
In case we want to find out the right distance in a straight line between two points we will have to resort to the most popular application of Google Maps: Google Earth. With the tools that we find in it, we can calculate the distance to the millimeter also using Google maps or satellite images.
Once we have downloaded and started the program we have to look for the icon of a ruler in the upper toolbar of the screen. In the box that appears, click on the "line" tab, and choose the unit in which we want to measure the distance (meters, kilometers, miles). Then you just have to click once on a point on the map and move the cursor to point B. So we find out that Paseo de Recoletos is 86 meters from side to side.
It is not the only option that Google Earth contemplates in this regard. We can select the " route " tab and continue adding points to measure the distance of a longer route. The third option: “Pro”, allows, among other things, to measure terrain surfaces and other more advanced options. However, it is a paid application , although with a free trial version.