Google Maps recently rolled out a series of enhancements to its driving directions that make it pretty much the best mapping tool available for figuring out how to get around, and earned themselves a few green points for offering alternate walking routes (all surface streets, and unconcerned with one-ways), traffic monitoring so you can adjust your route to avoid it, and even public transportation routes for some major cities. In the process, however, they stripped out the feature that saved us the most gas, money, and time. Why, Google, why?

Multiple destinations haven't been supported for long in Google Maps, but when they did roll out it was with the option to reorder destinations so that users could determine the most efficient route for getting around. All it took was a click and drag and you could switch the order, see how your total mileage and driving times were altered, and preplan the most streamlined afternoon of errands ever.

It's odd that in an era of record-high fuel prices, the company would choose to add traffic reporting - a great way to increase you fuel efficiency and time savings when planning routes - yet take away the ability to reorder your destinations and find a better overall driving route.

If Google ever wished to address this eliminated feature, the Google Groups thread about it would be a great place for them to chime in. Administrators and even programmers regularly monitor Google Groups, and although a failure to respond to user complaints is often a sign that a fix is months or years in the making, they also frequently wait until the solution is at hand before making any promises. Who knows, maybe they have something even better in the works? They aren't the best mapping service around for nothin'.

Here's a quick rundown of all the great features that remain in Google's driving directions mapping service:



What do you do to save on gas and time spent driving? Share your tips with other Tranquil Parent readers!