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How does the system decide on where to direct a route once a user asks for a 'safe' or otherwise route?
Is there are hoard of Tolkien like little people scribbling away in a attic or outbuilding once a route is requested, or is there a library of routes already predetermined by the same scribblers - or possibly a more advanced little people from another culture?
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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Ken, a read of the links on this page might help you out.
https://cycle.travel/advice/mapcycle.travel/advice/map
It’s definitely Tolkien-like little people!
Essentially how this (and pretty much any other routing app/site) works is that every section of road gets a score, which is multiplied by the length of that section. The routeplanner then looks at all the possible roads between A and B to find the route with the lowest total score.
So, for example, a quiet road between two points might get a score of 0.5, and a busy road might get a score of 2.0. If both roads are 1000m long and go between the same places, then cycle.travel will choose the first (0.5*1000 = 500) in preference to the second (2.0*1000 = 2000) because it has a lower score.
How the scores are calculated is, however, pretty complex and balances a whole host of different factors – surface, climb, motor traffic and lots more!
Hats off then to whom ever devised this logistical labryinthine of complexity.
Like most people (I suspect and hope), I am more than happy to not only make use of the efforts of others (Roget being one) but also to readily give credit where credit is due.