Hi all,

I've seen some of the threads asking about being able to make routes
for a bicycle on Google Maps. I and a bunch of other people are
interested to see this feature, too.

So, to the Google Maps teams - "hello!", and "if you can spare some
time, we'd love to see this feature!".  :)

First, thanks for all who have posted in this group, pointing to
byCycle.org and other mapping efforts. As I looked around the net I
started to realize how widespread support was for this feature. There
are groups and individuals all over the world that want a quick and
easy way to map their bike routes. There are so many things that so
many people love about it that it seems like it almost certainly is a
good idea, and one worth accomplishing.

To that end, we put together an online petition to ask Google and the
Google Maps team to have a look at implementing this feature. We would
love it if you would consider signing the petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/petition.html

We also put together a companion website to help keep everyone
informed, to explore ideas, etc.

http://googlemapsbikethere.org/

I have a strong feeling that there are tens of thousands, if not
millions, of us who would very much like to see this feature added to
Google Maps, but there is no combined/directed expression of support
being shown - it's just so many people's voices dispersed all over the
globe. The petition hopes to bring us all together - virtually - to
help show Google and the Google Maps team that we think this feature
would be a tremendous benefit to each of us personally, and to society
as a whole.

Thank you very much for your help in signing and spreading the word!

I support Peters request

On 25 Feb., 10:18, Peter <pe...@googlemapsbikethere.org> wrote:

Thanks for your efforts and encouragement.  Definitely feel encouraged to
support new and useful features.  In meantime, be happy with extant tools
permitting creation of unique bicycle adventures.  See, for example,
http://mindbiking.googlepages.com

On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 4:18 AM, Peter <pe...@googlemapsbikethere.org>
wrote:

--
Bill Gaugush
billgaug...@gmail.com

I support Peters request !!!

On Feb 25, 2:18 am, Peter <pe...@googlemapsbikethere.org> wrote:

I support Peters request !!!!

On Feb 25, 2:18 am, Peter <pe...@googlemapsbikethere.org> wrote:

I heartily support the BikeThere idea as well.  I have previously sent
in a suggestion to this effect to Google, which I've copied below for
reference:

*********************************************
Currently the "get directions" feature doesn't give any usable
directions on getting places by bicycle (regardless of location).  It
appears to be oriented only towards motor vehicles, and the paths
necessary for cyclists to safely and quickly get somewhere are often
completely different, especially since in many cities the officially-
marked and maintained paths are not on any major streets.

Another problem is that there are often hills or valleys or similar
obstacles that for a motor vehicle are not obstacles at all, but will
hinder almost any cyclist quite a bit, and would be easier to ride
around the long way than to go over or thru.

Sometimes it is only that some intersections are high-traffic, and
thus much more dangerous than others with less traffic.  It is a minor
inconvenience to have to go a mile out of the way to avoid dangerous
places.

It would be best to mark on the map of a set of directions *why* a
particular detour is suggested (via an icon, probably), and allow a
simple click on the icon to remove a detour from the list of
directions, but leaving the icon present and "x-ed out" to allow re-
enabling that detour if desired.

If a user has a google account and is logged in, it'd also be nice to
keep the preferences for them stored, so that if they turn detours on
or off, or have selected bike directions vs car directions they would
not have to keep picking these options each time.

I and many many others would really appreciate the much-needed
cyclists version of the "get directions" feature.   I'd certainly be
willing to help test it out, and provide any feedback you needed to
improve it.  I'm sure there are many thousands of cyclists in each
city that would do the same.   Having these sorts of directions
available would encourage more cyclists who also drive (unlike me) to
use their bikes more often for things they otherwise drive for, and
help out the environment and their own health.

In at least some cases, perhaps many depending on the city, it can
actually be faster to go somewhere close by on a bike instead of in a
car, due to traffic control signals, etc, because the bike paths in
some cases bypass these entirely.   For instance, here in Phoenix, I
can go from Metrocenter Mall to Arrowhead Mall at least as fast as a
car, and in some cases significantly faster depending on traffic at
the time, because there is a path along a canal that is only about 8.5
miles long, and has tunnels under every road it crosses from one end
to the other, so no stops need ever be made.  The equivalent car ride
is about 12.5 miles, and has traffic stops at least every mile, and
twice that in some places, not to mention that the traffic on some of
the roads that must be travelled by car to get there is very very
heavy and often dangerous even to other cars.     The bike path even
goes thru parks with facilities along the way, for resting, watering
up, or restrooms if needed.

Trips like that would be really something to point out to cyclists.
Would even be interesting to show those as alternative routes for
people getting car directions, in a way that would suggest to them it
might be better to bike there.   For instance, if someone were pulling
up car directions for that trip, Google Maps could ask "would you like
to see a shorter, safer, faster route using alternate transportation?"
and then show the bike route if the user clicks yes to that.

For now, I can still use Google Maps to get the info I need, but it is
tedious:

Right now it is possible for me to use the satellite images of a
location, with the "show labels" checkbox turned on, to be able to
find routes potentially safe for cycling to and from a location, along
with my experiences as a cyclist, and the few "official" maps of
cycling routes published on the web for various cities.  However, most
cities don't seem to have any published complete maps of all their
official cycling routes, only certain "featured" routes that are often
less usable and less safe to use than most of the other ones they do
maintain but don't publish on those maps.   So it can be very
difficult to actually create a usable set of directions by hand each
time, to places I've not yet been to.

One other problem is that in some cities, like Phoenix, AZ, the city
has a whole bunch of bike paths, but they are all discontinuous.  One
might go for a mile or two, then suddenly vanish, with no other path
near it for another mile or so, requiring travel in normal street
traffic.   That sort of thing also ought to be marked on the
directions map, and preferably as an overlay on the regular maps
themselves, perhaps as a tickbox option (again remembered per user if
they're logged in).

--
--
Michael Elliott
Cybernetic Necromancers, Discorporated
Phoenix, AZ
E-Bicycle Conversion Blog: http://opporknockitytunes.blogspot.com