On Wednesday, March 10, Google representatives made a very important announcement at the plenary session of the National Bike Summit – after many, many requests from users, you can now use Google Maps to get directions to go by bike! In addition to driving and walking, you can now choose bicycling as your means to get from point A to point B.
This is a great development, whether you’re a veteran cyclist looking for a better route, or a novice cyclist who just needs a little encouragement (and a safe bike route) to jump on a bike to run that errand. From the Get Directions page, simply choose “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu. When your directions appear, they will follow bicycle paths and routes as much as possible, and the map will also show solid and dotted lines for bike paths and routes in the surrounding area.
The system isn’t perfect yet, and that’s why Google needs you to help them improve their routes. It is still in “beta”, and Google is requesting users to report unmapped bike routes, dangerous roads for cyclists, and other problems by clicking a link above the directions. So to make the bike mapping function better, please speak up!
