According to Worldchanging, two weeks ago at the 10th Annual American Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. Google announced that their maps will now feature bike routes for around 150 U.S. cities - which of course is not all-helpful but will be useful for the larger cities who made the bike route cut. Feature includes 15,000 miles of off-street bike trails gathered by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has collected trail info for its website since 2007.
In a nice example of how everyday people can make a difference, Google came to this decision after receiving a petition with more than 50,000 signatures asking that bike routes to be added to its maps.
Get the whole scoop on the new Google bike maps.
In a nice example of how everyday people can make a difference, Google came to this decision after receiving a petition with more than 50,000 signatures asking that bike routes to be added to its maps.
The League of American Bicyclists, who sponsored the American Bike Summit, hopes the Google feature will encourage wary would-be cyclists to get on the road, give more seasoned bikers the respect they deserve, and curb unnecessary motorist pollution by highlighting safe routes:
- Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail
- Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road
- Dashed green indicates roads that are designated as preferred for bicycling but without dedicated lanes
Get the whole scoop on the new Google bike maps.
