I thought this was already a work in progress:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-09-biking-maps-google_N.htm
http://www.thewashcycle.com/2009/06/google-trail-view-now-in-america.html
I found this request on the Marin County Bicycle Coalition's website. They are requesting all of their members to go to the Google Map website and click on "Yes" to create bike and trail maps.
A request for Google to create maps for the best cycling routes in any particular area has been posted on their "Suggest It" page.
Explicit bicycle maps are useful for several important reasons:
1. Cyclists need routes that minimize the use of congested roadways. No extant Google (or competing) maps do so. Many cities and counties have gone to considerable labor and expense to mark bicycle routes. These would be the obvious heart of the Google bicycle map database.
2. Many cities have created dedicated bicycle lanes or bike/ped facilities through dense developed areas. More people will use them if they can map their locations and connections!
3. Transit maps often indicate walking routes to and from terminals/stops - but not cycling routes, which vastly increases the range of travel for cyclists. Bicycle maps should be integrated with the transit maps.
Here's how you can help:
1. Go to
http://maps.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=suggestions.cs
2. Scroll down the list to the Route Information section
3. Click the "Suggest It" button after the last choice - "Add bike trail
information and biking directions".
If you want to do more than click a request, you need to write to the discussion forums and hope Google staff pays attention. If you choose to take this extra step, feel free to use the above talking points.
Thank for helping! A flood of input just might get Google's engineers in gear.
I thought this was already a work in progress:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-09-biking-maps-google_N.htm
http://www.thewashcycle.com/2009/06/google-trail-view-now-in-america.html
That's street view. What Swalfoort is talking about is generating directions just like you can get for driving, walking or public transit.
Or we can do it ourselves. OpenStreetMap has a data set you can add bike infrastructure and route safety information to and folks have set up applications to map with it.
funny you should bring this up. one thing that google needs to do is to incorporate the trail data into their maps, otherwise their route generator will be sending you down second ave instead of the jail trail.
however, i was riding on the southside trail this morning and saw this:
Whoo hoo!
I think that google HOPES to be able to integrate trail maps, as well as bike suitability maps of the sort created by Bike Pittsburgh. What a great NATIONAL resource that would be!
that machine being in pittsburgh is unreasonably exciting to me
that picture of the google-bike makes me happy.
That must take an ungodly amount of time because that bike has been seen around Pittsburgh since early spring, or last fall.
There is a petition to add bike routes to Google Maps that I just found. Would be sweet to get bike routes integrated into the iPhone Google Maps app.
no, it came in last fall, but arrived broken, so they didn't actually do it
Gotcha
Go Go Google Trike!!!
http://bike-pgh.org/2009/10/google-announces-plan-for-bike-there-option-on-their-maps/
gmap-pedometer.com just added openstreetmaps and auto routing too... very cool... the open street maps things is awesome
I'd love to be the one who gets to ride from Pittsburgh to DC to put "trail-view" on google maps.
Too bad nobody knows when they will actually ride the trail to get images because how funny would it be to be on Gmaps somewhere taking a leak off the side of the trail, mooning them as they drive by, waving into the camera as you ride by, tokin a spliff on a bench in the background, fixing your flat tire, or whatever other creative things you could think of to do for them LOL
Like on Sampsonia Way.
You can suggest places for them to ride their trike here:
https://services.google.com/fb/forms/streetviewussuggestions/