Help get bicycle routes on Google Maps!
You now have an opportunity to encourage Google to add cycling routes on their “Suggest It” page. Please make sure that Google knows this should be a priority!
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.
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 (like St. Louis) 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, such as the Bay Trail and the Ohlone Bikeway from Richmond to Berkeley. 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.
