We've added the distance calculator from zip-codes.com way down our RHS column. It calculates straight line distance and driving distance. For most of my travel cost models I've used "zipfip distances" which are basically straight line distances with an upwards scale factor. For North Carolina the scale factor is 10%. Looking at the picture below (my drive home) you can see there can be considerable error for remote destinations. In this case the upwards scale factor is 40%.
The database at zip-codes.com will only give you the straight line distances. What are folks using these days to calculate driving distance (without resorting to doing it by "hand" with Google Maps or Mapquest). PCMiler still looks way expensive. Is there anything cheaper?
