AAAARRRRRGGGGbllll pppphtt!Joined: 26 Aug 2006Posts: 725Location: In the lab.
at first I thought... wow... cool... and then I kinda got pissed and thought... why haven''t they already done this... I mean... goo"we are socially progressive"gle...
Thanks for the post Denny, I would love to see that, I think I managed to make some geometric amplification of your message.
_________________ In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen.
1337Joined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 6705Location: right over
the reason they haven't done it is because bike routing information is haaaaard.
maybe they will hire brandon though?
n_claw
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:44 am
Joined: 02 Jul 2007Posts: 517Location: the only hill: Beacon
lantius wrote:
the reason they haven't done it is because bike routing information is haaaaard.
maybe they will hire brandon though?
i think eleventy-million jobs is enough for one badbad hill, but that's just my thought.
mork the delayer
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:23 am
Joined: 06 Apr 2006Posts: 548Location: Providence, RI
The "avoid highways" option is the closest you can come so far on google maps.
The other feature I'd like to see is the one that lets you add road routes you've searched for to custom maps. I am much more amazed that this feature hasn't been added than I am about the absence of a "bike there" feature.
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Alastair
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:03 pm
Joined: 12 Jan 2006Posts: 475Location: U-district/Ravenna
I think one of the challenges of that type of application would be to consider which routes are considered to be bike friendly. Most of us would have no problem riding up most of the hills in Seattle, but how many people would complain about being given a route that included a large or steep hill.
Also, as a side note, the "bus there" feature doesn't always work well. On many occasions, despite two bus routes running very close to my house on top of Queen Anne, it has told me to walk down the hill to the opposite corner of the hill. While it may only be a short mileage distance, it's not a comfortable walk. Google sees the world as flat.
john
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:43 pm
AAAARRRRRGGGGbllll pppphtt!Joined: 26 Aug 2006Posts: 725Location: In the lab.
Yeah, it won't work well at first, however google does not see the world as flat... google earth, which is closely tied to google maps is a very effective GIS tool that we use quite often for preliminary surveying before going to ARC or some other commercial program. The new terrain function on google maps is pretty cool and perhaps it is a stage between merging google earth and maps.
However what I think what is far more important is to have Google put a bike icon on their mapping software. Google is a cultural paradigm, and it will have a great effect for them to advertise a bike routes option.
Again... the problem with bike commuting is that the general public does not take it seriously... for google to take it seriously will add credence to the idea. It sounds odd that it would, but I think having a little bike icon would do wonders.
I expect Google will answer the petition and I am looking forward to what they produce.
_________________ In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen.
Joined: 13 Oct 2005Posts: 744Location: the westside
It should be a pretty straight forward function for the GE programmers to put together considering their proven track record of useful map applications and bottomless pocketbook. Route finding applications are evolving at an incredible rate every year so this wouldn't be a huge challenge.
I'd imagine they'd use existing bike route datasets on the city, state, and even national level, then combine it with existing traffic volume data and perhaps terrain data. It's not a matter of if the data is out there for them to put something like this together (GIS is all about snagging other people's data), but a matter of the programming that would make it a functional application, then adequate testing before release, which they seem to have a grasp of (as opposed to a Vista version that would send people north on 5th Ave).
Razi
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:20 am
Joined: 16 Dec 2005Posts: 866Location: Seattle
it would be amazing if somehow users could "vote" on routes and weight favorites.
This would lead to a really dynamic product that could take into account changes in cycling habits that occur over time.
If such a thing existed a few years ago, then it would have reflected the fact that many cyclists changed their commute around during the construction of the SLUT, and that these habits stabilized as construction wound down.
Check out the site: mapmyrun.com.
It's a Google mashup that allows for customized maps of runs, walks, bike rides etc...
Create a point83 account and start mapping rides or bike routes (city streets etc...)
^^^ You should use mapmyride.com. Basically the same thing, but with ads targeted to cyclists instead of runners....
gsbarnes
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:19 am
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
surlykat wrote:
^^^ You should use mapmyride.com. Basically the same thing, but with ads targeted to cyclists instead of runners....
My wife asked me what the difference was last night, and that's what I said. She thought in mymyrun, the 'follow streets' option wouldn't make you obey one-way streets. She was wrong.
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ksep
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:21 am
Joined: 27 Jan 2007Posts: 1879Location: Westlake
Evan already created a public .83 group on mapmyride.
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john
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:00 pm
AAAARRRRRGGGGbllll pppphtt!Joined: 26 Aug 2006Posts: 725Location: In the lab.
Razi wrote:
it would be amazing if somehow users could "vote" on routes and weight favorites.
You should send that idea to both the google peeps and the persons running the petition... that would not be hard to do.
All you would have to do is record how people moved the route manually when it is in "bike there" mode... I'm sure they can record the data...
and yeah, the GE people seem to be getting more and more interested in wharehousing stuff that could be used in surveys like Jill was talking about....
_________________ In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen.
could suck the fun out of a blowjobJoined: 23 Jul 2007Posts: 588Location: Ballard / Fremont
What if there was a site that let you put in your bike commute and other regular rides, weighting them with how often you say you ride (daily, weekly, no-rain, no-cold, no-snow, etc.) and then added up everyones rides in a cumulative weighted map so SDOT could take a look and say "oh crap, 500 cyclists a day use that route".
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AAAARRRRRGGGGbllll pppphtt!
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1337
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