Half a
gigameter of
biking navigation in 12
countries in
Google Maps for
Android
Whether you’re a seasoned century rider or a casual beach cruiser, finding the best
biking routes can be a challenge. That’s why today we’re bringing mobile
biking directions and
navigation to the 10
countries where we launched
desktop biking directions last month (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, **rway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK). Plus, we’re adding turn-by-turn, voice-guided
biking navigation to
Google Maps Navigation (beta) in every country with
biking directions. Mount your device on your handlebars to see the turn-by-turn directions and navigation, or use speaker-mode to hear voice-guided directions.
We k**w there are lots of ways to get from here to there, which is why
in 2010, we added
biking directions to
Google Maps in the U.S. and Canada, and continue to work to bring more
biking features to more places. Today, there are more than 330,000 miles (equal to more than 530,000 kilometers, or
Half a gigameter) of green
biking lines in
Google Maps. Dark green lines on the map show dedicated bike trails and paths with ** motor vehicles, light green lines show streets with bike lanes and dashed green lines show other streets recommended for cycling.
biking navigation even helps you avoid steep hills.
Bike layer showing recommended streets for cycling in Stockholm
Where
Map Maker and
biking directions are both available, riders can add bike trails, lanes and suggested routes to
Google Maps, helping to create a more comprehensive map for everyone living in or visiting their community. Thanks to the contributions of
members of the biking community like Todd Scott and our partnership with **nprofits like
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, we’ve added bike data for hundreds of cities and trails to
Google Maps in the past two-and-a-half years.
When you’re pedaling from Point A to Point B, we hope
biking navigation will make
Google Maps for
Android more useful to you.
Posted by Larry Powelson, Software Engineer,
Google Maps
(Cross-posted on the Lat Long blog)
