Google Biking is here

From a LAB release:

The League of American Bicyclists is proud to be the forum for Google to announce what all bike riders have been waiting for - Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps. Google is announcing at the Opening Plenary Session at the National Bike Summit that they are adding biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps."This new tool will open people's eyes to the possibility and practicality of hopping on a bike and riding," said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. "We know people want to ride more, and we know it's good for people and communities when they do ride more - this makes it possible. It is a game-changer, especially for those short trips that are the most polluting,"

Users can now choose biking when deciding how to get to their destination, starting today, March 10, 2010. If you're one of the 57 million Americans who ride a bike, mapping your daily commute, and planning recreational or trail rides just became easier. According to Google this has been the most requested addition to Google Maps, and the League is delighted that they have chosen the National Bike Summit to unveil this new feature. Google's announcement further proves the importance of the Summit and the bicycle movement in helping our nation become a more Bicycle Friendly America. The Google biking directions will make it that much easier for bicyclists to get to work, school or play.

This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new "Bicycling" layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads. The directions feature provides step-by-step, bike-specific routing suggestions - similar to the directions provided by our driving, walking, or public transit modes. Simply enter a start point and destination and select "Bicycling" from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible. 

Visit http://maps.google.com/biking to try out this new feature. Biking directions for Google Maps is currently in Beta. Follow the League's news feed on the new Google feature on the League's Blog, Facebook and Twitter. If you have any further questions, contact Meghan Cahill at 202.822.1333 or meghan@bikeleague.org.

When I tried to reach the google biking site, I got a 404 error. One has to think this doesn't bode well for Ride the City.

Comments

[Ron Alford]

Ride the City is a pretty good sport about it.

[MLD]

DC is missing lots of bike lanes, the 15th street cycletrack, etc. Is there any way that we can suggest additions?

[James]

I guess we can finally retire the Google Maps mashup and wiki.

[washcycle]

MLD, on the map right click at the spot where the problem is and select "Report a Problem."

James, yeah, soon - for now it has some info the Google Map doesn't have, but if enough people report enough problems that won't be true anymore.

[washcycle]

BTW, I finally got to see it and it is nice. It isn't limited to the immediate DC area the way the Capitol Bikeways map is. Arlington was thinking of making an online map, this may have saved them some money.

[Your Brother]

Saw this today and thought of you.

[Scott F]

Is ride the city still being maintained? I sent them two route ratings/problem reports with an email address and never got a reply to either. Then I signed up for an account, but never got the confirmation email with my password. Then I used the feedback link to ask them about THAT, and again no reply. I'd like to continue using it, but I have to assume nobody's working on it anymore.