While creating routes, you can instruct PC*MILER to avoid or favor selected roads. (And you don’t have to tell PC*MILER why—you have your reasons.) These Route Modifiers are created in Content Tools and then shared with PC*MILER for use in route planning. Before you can use Content Tools, you must sign up for a login.
To try this out, let’s create a new route from Augusta, ME, to Charleston, SC, and then designate Route Modifiers around Augusta.
1. Close all open routes (Routes tab > 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. Double-click Augusta on the stop list to zoom into this capital city in Maine.
5. Right click the map and choose Zoom Out twice (alternatively you could use the scroll wheel on your mouse). Notice that PC*MILER’s route travels on I-95 (the Maine Turnpike) going south from US 202 out of Augusta.
6. Click the Tools tab > Manage Content to open Content Tools in your web browser.
7. In Content Tools, select Route Modifiers on the top menu ribbon to open the Route Modifiers Sets panel.
8. Each avoid or favor your create must be in a Route Modifiers Set. Click New Set and type "Guided Tour" under the New Set Name field. Click Save.
10. Click on Guided Tour to open the Place Set you just created, and click Search.
11. Type “August, ME” in the search bar and select the match at the top. Your map window will show a map of the Augusta area.
12. Click the Back button to return to your Guided Tour set and click Add New Modifier.
13. On US-201, ME-27 that runs south out of Augusta, click on several different points above the town of Hallowell. Those road segments will turn blue.
14. Click the radio button next to Favor and click Save. Green highlighting will appear, indicating a favored road segment.
15. On the same map, click on I-95 going south from US-202 and follow the same steps as above, except this time designate it as an Avoid road segment. Red highlighting will indicate an avoided road.
16. Optionally, a comment can be entered for any road preference you create using the Add Comment dialog box that pops up. This comment gets stored with the Route Modifier.
17. Return to PC*MILER and click the Tools tab > Refresh Content to pull in the Route Modifiers you just created in Content Tools.
18. Click the Tools tab > View Route Modifiers to open your Route Modifiers panel. You will see a Route Modifiers Set named Guided Tour.
19. Next, open the Route Options dialog (click the gear button in the route window and select Options).
21. In the Routing Preferences tab, under Custom Roads select Use Route Modifiers from the drop-down, 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.
22. The route will rerun automatically when you exit the Route Options dialog – your route now travels on US-201 and avoids the Maine Turnpike.
