A route is a long-distance connection. It is not the same as 'road'. People say, for example, "I am going to take the route over the mountains", or "do you think that is the quickest route from Los Angeles to Chicago?" These routes may involve many roads or railway lines, so a single road, or a train line may be a part of a route, and the route may need roads, rail and sea sections. If you use a satnav device it may show you a route made up of many roads. It could show you the route that is the quickest, the route that involves as many major roads as possible and so on.

One of the most famous routes involving roads is Route 66, which is a highway that was made up from many parts along a route from Chicago to Los Angeles. It is used by tourists today. The video shows the route over the Pennine Hills between Leeds and Manchester that has been made into a single motorway (M62) because it is so well used.