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National Bike Summit 2010 – Google Announces Bike Google Maps at Summit Today!
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. Also, download and share our press release here.
Meghan Cahill
League Director of Communications
Cahill joined the League in December 2008 and has a BA in Media Communications with a concentration in Italian Studies from the College of Charleston.
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March 10th, 2010 at 1:55 am
[...] to 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 [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 6:59 am
[...] Read the full article here. [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 10:03 am
[...] Here’s part of the announcement from the League of American Bicyclists: [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 10:06 am
[...] League of American bicyclists has a press release / post on their blog. The link for Google Maps indicated in the blog takes one to a map centered on San Francisco, [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 10:20 am
[...] at the League of American Bicyclist’s annual National Bike Summit. According to 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 [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 10:33 am
[...] You can learn more from the League of American Bicyclists: National Bike Summit 2010 – Google Announces Bike Google Maps at Summit Today! [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 10:50 am
[...] more at the League of American Bicyclists [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
I have to assume it’s a work in progress which has yet to have much Chicago area participation. I followed the Google Maps link and, assuming the green lines to be the bike routes recorded saw none associated with any of the extensive Cook County Forrest Preserve bike trails network. How disappointing that is.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
This is the link to the maps of the trails in the Cook County Forrest Preserve system. http://www.fpdcc.com/tier3.php?content_id=68
March 10th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
I live in a rural area. A quick look at the bicycle routing function of Google Maps for this area shows that it favors main highways over county roads. It also appears to favor recreational trails over county roads.
I’m hoping that future versions will provide more route selection options and show information such as hills and traffic levels.
Good start Google.
March 10th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I’m impressed so far!
It worked pretty well for my route through Denver, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge on the way to my job in Golden, CO. It even knew to route me along a “short cut” via the sidewalk next to a golf course, avoiding where the street takes a few turns which adds several blocks to the trip.
Having some preferences (if not already included) like “avoid highways” and such, might be also helpful.
LN
March 10th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
[...] oltre 50mila firme a supporto. Presentata al National Bike Summit 2010, è stata alla fine ben accolta, per esempio, dalla Lega Americana Ciclisti. Il servizio si presenta come un supporto per chi ha [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
[...] directions on Google Maps. Read more about the maps on a League of American Bicyclists blog post. Pictured are the intrepid HOK St. Louis Bike to Work-ers, from last [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
[...] interested in more than just a link to a 3rd hand news story or YouTube video here is the Blog entry from the League: The League of American Bicyclists is proud to be the forum for Google to announce what all bike [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
[...] For the League of American Bicyclist blog story click here. [...]
March 11th, 2010 at 10:21 am
[...] der Link zur League of American Cyclists, der Google (charmanterweise!) die Möglichkeit geboten hat, die Produktneuheit zu präsentieren [...]
March 11th, 2010 at 11:57 am
[...] Bikeleague.org Blog » Blog Archive » National Bike Summit 2010 – Google Announces Bike Google Ma…. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)New bike toolNo TitleFind bike routes on Google! – Special Announcment [...]
March 11th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
[...] Google will announce the innovation at the National Bike Summit today in Washington, D.C. Read the press release about the announcement and follow news and updates about Google Maps’ bike features on the League of American Bicyclists’ blog by clicking here. [...]
March 12th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
[...] National Bike Summit in the nation’s capital, Google is making a splash in the cycling world. The company will announce that they are integrating bike paths/directions into their wildly popular Google Maps [...]
March 21st, 2010 at 10:45 am
[...] directions for all maps. Google’s Shannon Guymon is the opening plenary speaker at the National Bike Summit and she’s expected to announce the new feature this morning and give a [...]
March 30th, 2011 at 9:04 am
I’m impressed so far!
It worked pretty well for my route through Denver, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge on the way to my job in Golden, CO. It even knew to route me along a “short cut” via the sidewalk next to a golf course, avoiding where the street takes a few turns which adds several blocks to the trip.
Having some preferences (if not already included) like “avoid highways” and such, might be also helpful.
April 14th, 2011 at 4:21 am
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August 12th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
[...] National Bike Summit in the nation’s capital, Google is making a splash in the cycling world. The company will announce that they are integrating bike paths/directions into their wildly popular Google Maps [...]