Petition to Google: Please Add 'Bike There' Feature
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 07. 9.08
Led by Peter Smith, the Google Maps Bike There Team has started a petition with merit. Take a minute to add your signature today. Mine is 34708 if you want to check out Google Petition signatures! The text of the petition is also shown here below:
Petition to Google for a Bike There Feature
To: Google, and the Google Maps team
We would like a 'Bike There' feature added to Google Maps - to go with the current 'Drive There' and 'Take Public Transit' options.
The feature would take into account actual bicycle lanes from the locality being mapped, and it would automatically plan a route for a bicyclist, possibly even providing the cyclist options for either the most direct route, or the most bicycle-friendly (safest) route. The Google Maps-based third party site, byCycle.org (http://byCycle.org/), provides these features for two metro areas - Portland, Oregon and Madison, Wisconsin, and there are countless other mapping initiatives around the world aimed at accomplishing the same goal. We hope that Google will consider building this feature into the core Google Maps service.
There are many reasons why this feature would be a wonderful edition to Google Maps. Among them, some of the most influential would be to:
- Make bicycling safer for millions of bicyclists around the world.
- Empower world citizens to better adapt their lifestyles to face the challenges of global climate change.
- Help Google realize its core mission of 'organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful.'
By implementing the 'Take Public Transit' option, Google and the Google Maps team have shown themselves to be concerned and capable world citizens; a 'Bike There' feature addition to Google Maps would be the ultimate statement in support of sustainable development.
For more information on this feature request please visit the Google Maps 'Bike There' website.
Thank you, Google and the Google Maps team! And thank you, petitioners, for joining us in attempting to realize this very important goal!
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
See the Google Maps Bike There Petition at Petitions.com
Google Maps Bike There Petition
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I hope the 'Bike There' feature would have the user avoid highways and interstates! It's quite an eye-opener when my GPS tells me to get on the on-ramp when I'm biking...that's not the kind of 'merging' with traffic I want to do.
My hometown Tampere in Finland just opened such service for testing.
It's build on top of older public transit service.
In addition to routes (shortest or using pedestrian/bicyle lanes) there is information about roadconsturctions, traffic lights and steep hills.
Great service
-Ville
35012
Oh my yes please!!!!! This would be the greatest thing to hit the internet since Google Earth!
Great post. I have used a similar tool as you are suggesting in Portland, OR and it works very well. The website is http://bycycle.org/ and it currently exists for Portland and Milwuakee, WI.
This WOULD be great, but it would also be great to have a "walk there" option. Pedestrians don't need to worry about one way streets, and sometimes it tells me to go a half a mile or more out of my way because of them.
Google maps already has an "Avoid Highways" option. I use it because my 50cc scooter is not allowed on highways.
There is a walk-there function.
Man, I wish Live Maps had a transit and walking and biking routes feature.
I did hear that the VE team is working on that. Hopefully it'll come soon. Live Maps is far better than Google Maps, if it weren't for that.
I know about the transit options (and use it) but I too would really like a walk there options, as I add the same issue Anhony before :(
We need to get this story on the treehugger most popular list somehow.
where is the 'walk there' option?