MapInfo Pro

Hi, a client who does bus routing needs to show multiple lines on a map where some overlap because they go down the same roads in certain area,

The "offset" option is no good because it physically moves the polyline and they still look intertwined:

See Attachment

Whereas as, according to the client, the "offset" tool in ArcGIS give a visually pleasing offset where one runs next to the other:

See Attachment

Does anyone have an idea for a solution to this?

I've also attached a sample.

Thank you,

Kobi

Hi Kobi,

The "Create Parallel" tool under the Buffer menu might help you out. This is part of the MapCad mbx.

You'll need to disaggregate to remove multi-section lines first. Also, if applying this to multiple lines, you might need to ensure your lines are running in the same direction first; otherwise, you'll get the result as shown below:

See Attachment

I hope this helps.

@James Nolet?, that was great, thanks!

One more small problem, I disaggregated the blue line and ran the Create Parallel tool. I made sure the line was in the same direction. However, I am now left with over laps and gaps, based on the original lines curvature (orange line in the image is the parallel that was created from the blue line). What would be the best course of action to clean that up?

See Attachment

@Peter Horsbøll Møller? 

Hi Kobi,

To minimize overlaps and gaps, when you disaggregate, make sure you choose the "Disaggregate" option rather than "Disaggregate to lines"? option:

See Attachment

This is necessary for your data because "Create Parallel" won't work on multi polylines. However, you will still want to retain polylines rather than dropping to single line segments.

Snap/Thin under Fix/Clean, and merging lines together that represent the same bus route, should also help. You could try running these before using "Create Parallel", then run Snap/Thin again afterwards.