The Down Side of Crowdsourcing - Google "Bicycling" Layer Gets Fuzzy

Perhaps the greatest and under-appreciated accomplishment of Google Bike Directions is that is has created the most comprehensive mapping database of bicycle facilities in North America. Thousands of miles of bike lanes and tens of thousands of miles of shared use paths have been mapped by bike enthusiasts from all over who reported bike facilities through the "report a problem" function or in Google Mapmaker. Google Maps and its updated satellite imagery has also enabled the BCGP and its partners to create the regional trail map website.

But we have noticed lately that the crowdsourced effort has become a victim of its own success. A lack of criteria that defines usable bike facilities in the "bicycling layer" is diluting its original purpose

Making Google Bike Directions Work For You

In March Google Bike Directions generated a lot a buzz, after all a petition to implement a bike there application generated more than 51,000 thousand signatures. The petition is still active as now the target is to expand beyond the US.

But the lack of good road data, differing levels of traffic tolerance and frankly a lack of good bicycle facilities has meant that the application often generates less than ideal routes. This has resulted in some disappointment and even a little bit of backlash.

We too have received many emails complaining about directions especially in the suburbs, Fortunately with a little more effort you can make the Google Bike Directions work for you on streets that you would prefer to take.

The key is using three tools included Bike Directions. One is using Street View to preview your ride and the another is the drag function which lets you change your route by simply dragging the route line. The third is actually reporting unsuitable road segments to Google.

For our example we keyed in a Narberth to Haverford College route, Google found the most direct route via Montgomery Avenue. A road with 4 lanes, no shoulders and high travel speeds. We were able to replace that route with a slightly longer (~2 minutes) but much quieter route.




Music Credit - Bicycle Boogie: Bob Gaddy & His Alley Cats

BCGP Makes Corrections To Google Bike Maps

A side benefit of Google Bike Directions is the addition of the "Bicycling" layer in Google Maps, which is accessible under the "More" tab in the top right hand corner. Turning this layer on puts together a mosaic of localized bike lane, route and path data to create a national bicycle facility map.

That mosaic is far from complete and the Bicycle Coalition has worked with Google Maps to make more than 100 changes. Some examples include the addition of the Pennypack Trail, Bicyclists Baltimore Pike and the majority of bike lanes in shown in New Jersey and Delaware.

Google obtained bike lane information in Philadelphia from the City and major trails information from the Rails to Trails Conservancy. But the static nature of the data plus the lack of local trail and bike lane from outside of the city compelled us to add our ground truthing knowledge to the map. We communicated with Google Maps through their "report a problem" link in the lower right hand corner. It is a way that allows anyone to suggest changes to the map. The process usually takes a month or two, in the interim Google emails you when they verify your suggested change. Another email is sent when the changes are made. Each suggested change gets a unique ID number which allows you track the problem. Report a problem also works for bike directions, so you can report the lousy route you got to get to West Chester (we'll talk about making bike directions work for you in a later article).

What's interesting to me is that you can compare what has been done in Philly with the infrastructure in other cities. So if you want to take a break from FarmVille on Facebook open up Google bike maps and explore.

Bike Routing on Google Maps - Suggest It

The Google Maps "Bike There" petition has generated more than 5,000 signatures and it appears that Google may finally be responding to the deafening roar from the bicycle community. Google Maps offers a suggestion page for improvements and bike routing has been added as a possible improvement. You can help the bike route cause simply by voting for it.

1. Go to the Google Maps Suggest It page, for your convenience we embedded it below.
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".



Unlike transit or driving routes, bike route choices can be very subjective and the difficulty in route selection is compounded by the the near total absence of nationwide data. The result has been the creation of several local route planners that are running on different algorhythms.

What Google can do is to set a worldwide standard for bike route planning:

• It should be based on existing road data so that anyone can at least find a basic bike route
• It should be overlayed with data from communities that have taken the pains to map bike lanes, bike boulevards etc.
• It should offer options for route preferences such as hills, traffic volume and transit connections.
• Routing selection should be flexible enough to consider users suggestions for route improvements, and to provide credible data that may not be available elsewhere, such as pinch point hazards and the availability of bicycle parking.