What Can a Driving Distance Calculator Do For You?
According to the American Automobile Association, gasoline prices as of September 13, 2018 range between approximately $2.50 and $3.78 per gallon with a national average of $2.844. Historically, regular unleaded gasoline has gone as high as $4.114 and diesel $4.845. Although the current national average price might seem low, it can take a large chunk out of a person's budget at any time depending on a variety of factors. Drivers who have limited budgets or drive a lot, long distances or during holidays, emergencies and natural disasters often experience the most financial hardship. As a result, it makes sense for drivers to use a driving distance calculator to help them determine estimated distances and expenses. That said, a driving distance calculator can do so much more. This descriptive guide provides detailed information to help anyone quickly understand how driving distance calculators can benefit them in their daily lives, including save them time and money.
What is a Driving Distance Calculator?
A driving distance calculator helps people determine how long in terms of miles or kilometers it takes to drive from one point to another. In the past, drivers would have to calculate this distance on their own manually using a paper map or map book, ruler and calculator. With modern cutting-edge technologies, drivers can now find the distance by simply plugging in a bit of address information into the fields on a website or phone app. To use a driving distance calculator, you merely need to access the tool and then enter a start point in the form of a street address, city and state name or a ZIP code and the destination details. The calculator then provides at least the mileage and the estimated time to reach the location. Complex calculators offer plenty of additional features, including the option to calculate the shortest and longest distances. Most driving distance calculators also supply the estimated time it would take the driver to reach the location based on the best driving conditions or any real-time obstacles causing delays like accidents or road construction. The best calculators also supply a map and driving directions to help the driver reach their destination without hassle. As with traditional maps, virtual maps include common geographic features like road, highway and related details like toll booths, nearby parks and waterways and the names of nearby important stops on the map like cities and towns, train stations, ferries and airports.
Benefits of a Driving Distance Calculator
Although the ability to calculate driving mileage distances and the time to reach locations with little effort is a great benefit for planning out a budget, driving distance calculators aid drivers in a lot of other amazing ways. For example, distance details can help a worker calculate work-related travel mileage for an out-of-pocket reimbursement expense report. Self-employed business owners and job seekers use mileage distances for submitting estimated expenses and making deduction requests when filing itemized federal income taxes. Taxpayers who also hope to deduct medical expenses as part of their itemized submission can use driving distance details to estimate the total mileage rate based on the per mile rate approved by the government during any particular year for miles driven to healthcare-related destinations. They can typically include trips to doctor and dentist offices, pharmacies, hospitals, specialists, diagnostic labs and physical therapy centers. Calculators that also supply virtual maps often include information about important stops along different stretches of road, such as the closest gas stations, eateries, hotels, hospitals and banks and popular entertainment destinations like malls, movie theaters and museums. Some companies also have partnerships with certain businesses and offer real-time information on prices for various services in a region and even provide discounts to users who make arrangements to buy a product or service at a particular stop, such as a hotel or motel room.
Popular Driving Distance Calculators
Almost all of the best modern driving distance calculators are produced by companies that also offer mapping services. Think of these two calculators as one-stop shops for finding out everything a driver might need to map out and plan a short or long trip to a particular destination or find out other information related to automobile and other types of travel:
- Google Maps - This tool provides mileage and estimated time plus local stop details. Users must zoom in on a map to see the local stops. Google also integrated its calculator into its search engine tool. Drivers can retrieve mileage and driving direction information by merely entering the start and end points in the Google Search bar. They can also check related bus, pedestrian, bicycling and airplane information.
- MapQuest - This tool goes the extra mile by providing highlighted shortcuts to layers of information about important stops. Drivers can quickly find up-to-date details about every imaginable stop that might interest them by simply selecting a topic category. MapQuest also provides highlighted links to partner discount deals.