Streets & Trips power users often use custom point of interest (POI) BMP icons to customize their maps.  I thought I would share with you a 2010 .est file with thousands of custom icons.  You’ll not only get all the new icons that came with 2010 but also the entire 2006 set and a few hundred other custom icons as well.  It should give you a good start :-)

Many people hit the roads over the US Thanksgiving holiday.  This file will help you as you plan your trip.

Download the EST file from here.

[UPDATED: Nov 20, 2009]

In celebration of the recent release of Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 we have put together a saved map file (.axe) full of pushpin sets for the UK.

This is similar to the S&T 2010 Discovery Owners Mega File which has been very popular.

This file contains 76 pushpin collections with a huge number of points of interest above and beyond what is already included in the software.

Pushpin sets include:

• A&E Hospitals
• ASDA locations
• Caravan Club sites
• Focus Stores
• GEORGE High Street
• Morrison Supermarkets
• Notcutts UK
• Premier Travel Inn
• Tesco locations
• Travel lodge locations
• UK Safety Camera
• Visit Britain Accommodations
• Visit Britain – various POI categories
• Visit Scotland – various POI categories
• Visit Britain – various POI categories
• Wickes stores

The POI data is provided by Microsoft (back in 2007) so current accuracy has not been verified.  Pay no attention to the “CTRL & CLICK on icon for more details”  I don’t know why that is in all the balloons.

DOWNLOAD THE FILE HERE - AR2010_POI_Files_From_MSDownloads.zip (7.4MB)

If you are interested in adding even more 3rd Party POI (points of interest) to your AutoRoute map start with these websites:

• Motor home Parking - PoI Download Page
• GPS Data Team
• Archie’s Camping

Is there anyone left that doesn’t already know about the all the great points of interest files (aka Map Overlay files) available from the folks at DiscoveryOwners.com?

Well, they’ve been busy this fall working on a better way to access these files.   You will definitely want to bookmark these pages as you will want to return regularly to check for updates.

No more horizontal scrolling! :-)

1. Visit the new Points Of Interest Download List here (or click on the image below).

2. Use the new dropdown menu to choose your software product or Text files (recommended for 2010 users)

3.  Download the new or updated POI collection (a zip file) and unzip it.

This is a huge improvement and makes accessing these collections much easier!

Related links:

• Original DiscoveryOwners.com/cginfolinks.htm page
• New page – listed alphabetically
• New page – listed newest first
• ST2010 - DiscoveryOwners Mega File containing all the collections in one est file (UPDATED Nov 16 2009).

Did you know you can easily import points of interest into your Streets & Trips map?  There are many internet sources for collections of POI.  One popular (and free) website which shares out such information is DiscoveryOwners.com/cginfolinks.htm.

There are over 200 pushpin sets yours to freely download and import into Streets & Trips.  You can also create your own custom icons for these collections.

Now here is the good news…all the work has been done for you!  Marvin from LaptopGPSWorld has shared this all-in-one POI mega-file.

Download it from here: http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/microsoft-streets-trips/2595-mega-file-pushpin-collections-truckers-rvers-other-travelers.html or

from the S&T team skydrive.  (UPDATED - NOV 11, 2009)

Note: this file will only work with the new Streets & Trips 2010 version.

The mega file is the result of a collaborative effort and would not be made possible without the contributors at DiscoveryOwners and all others involved.

Thank you! Thank you!  I believe this file is a MUST HAVE for all travelers.

Someone recently asked me if Microsoft Streets & Trips showed seasonal road closures?  I thought I post the answer here.

YES IT DOES! :D

This comes as part of the free monthly construction updates that are downloaded from the web through the application.  If you plan a route you can quickly see if there are any seasonal road closures (in addition to construction projects) by review the  itinerary in the directions pane.  The road closures are clearly marked in a purple-ish color on the map.

Construction updates are currently available for the following products:

• MapPoint 2006, 2009, 2010
• Streets & Trips 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Download the construction update for May today!

As most of you know Microsoft Streets & Trips provides monthly construction updates that you can download for free.   Even if you don’t have the latest version of the software we still offer construction updates for several versions back.

How do I get it?

Create a route and click on the link in the directions pane:

or from the Route menu – click “update construction information”.

For more information about these monthly updates view this earlier post.

I wanted to wish you all my US readers a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.    Thanksgiving means being with your family and that means that there is an increase in highway traffic with many motorists traveling to unfamiliar locations.

I did a search for accident black spot areas on the web and aggregated all the data I found together.  It is far from complete but it is a good start.  

• Accident Black Spot Map for ST09
• Accident Black Spot Map for ST08
• Accident Black Spot POI CSV file (for importing into any version)

Drive Safe!

Microsoft Help and Support published a new Knowledge Base article to help any ST2008 users who are unable to download the monthly construction updates.

You may receive the message “Construction information for routes could not be downloaded. Try downloading new construction information again later”.

The fix requires you to run a REG file which is linked to on the KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958844

Note:  This only affects Streets & Trips 2008 users.

1. Download this zip file that contains the templates
2. Unzip it
3. Copy & paste the template* to the following folder on your computer:

• For users of Windows Vista, browse to ProgramData\Microsoft\Microsoft Streets & Trips\16.0\Templates
• For users of Windows XP, browse to \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Microsoft Streets & Trips\16.0\Templates

Please note: Microsoft modified the location of the default template in S&T 2009. More information about this can be found in the help file. In Vista, ProgramData is a hidden folder. It needs to be made visible in the control panel file options.

* The zip file contains 2 templates: 

• New North American Map.ptt = for MapPoint 2009
• New North American Map.stt = for Streets & Trips 2009

Each month we publish a free construction update for both MapPoint and Streets & Trips.  This update is available to all users of:

• Streets & Trips 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004
• MapPoint 2004, 2006

Periodically, we hear of issues with this file so drop me a comment if you have questions.

If you are driving a big rig and traveling through these United States, you often need to know the location of a truck stop or know the Truck Stop Locations and Travel Plazas locations in the area, with fuel and services available to you. AITA provides a listing of truck stops locations, diesel fuel outlets and travel plazas locations at www.AITAonline.com/TS/Locations.html

Thanks to the work of the Truckers at  America's Independant Trucker's Association, Inc. you can load up your Streets and Trips map with over 5000 US truck stops.  When I tried it there were a small percentage of the records that didn't match but even so this is a huge collection.  [Update: here is the direct link to the .est file]