Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 10, 2010 at 5:26am

Using any map from the internet, for any means of transport, blindly can be a very bad thing.

I have had the internet and GPS units steer me in horrible directions and down routes that made no sense in a car and simply do not trust them and always check directions; as should anyone who uses them.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 10, 2010 at 6:05am

I did 4 mapping tests this a.m.

1. Beverly to Calumet Park beach. It routed me onto 95th St. for most of the ride. Epic FAIL. A short section of 95th near the lake has bike lanes. The rest is NOT bike friendly. This was the toughest test, and I figured it would probably fail here.

2. Beverly to Marquette Park. Success - good route, mostly using bike lanes.

3. Bucktown to Old Town. FAIL Routing via Cortland would have been a few blocks longer. Instead, it routed me on North Ave. for most of the distance.

4. Ukie Village to Streeterville. Success - good route.

It's definitely Beta. I used the feedback link. Let's help it learn bike friendly routes so it gets better.

Lee Diamond said:

I agree. I think that the thing I am pointing out is that now, the system is suggesting very dangerous, un-=bike friendly routing. Using it blindly now could be a very bad thing.

Google has repeatedly proven their ability to improve through user input and I am sure this will be the case here as well.

Michael said:

Like it or not here is the thing about Google. They are constantly gathering data, imagine after just one summer of gathering the routes people use most commonly, via sharing street level data on a android enabled mobile phone, how much better the route suggestions will be.

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Permalink Reply by Rubani on March 10, 2010 at 6:56am

Lucky you. I take my back alley at one end of my commute and then the service/parking lot to the service entrance at the other end, but the map feature seems oblivious to these options and directs the long ways around. Overall I like though.

iggi said:

direction to work suggest i take alleys through a good portion of the city.

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Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on March 10, 2010 at 7:01am

It does the Chicago to Milwaukee route well. Also, I routed from Chicago to Pheonix, AZ (one day in the future :) ) It took me along the Katy Trail. Nice.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Y on March 10, 2010 at 7:14am

For one I am excited about this...yeah it's beta, but I think it's a good they're starting this (though when I test from my house in Hyde park to destination in west town it did also ask me to go on E Wacker drive....hmm...)

One thing I prefer google over others is its interface. I always hated mapquest's. I can also enter my destination much more easily. Don't know the address? No problem. Google will find it.

Second, less obtrusive ads.

Third, I frequently want to take, say bus, part of the way and bike the rest. Once google's biking directions gets on the way I will probably use this more.

Once it develops I can do street view, etc.
Right now it's still working out major kinks but I expect things to develop quickly given Google's history.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 10, 2010 at 8:03am

I agree. I think that Google has a great interface and that the kinks are likely to get worked out.

Amy Y said:

For one I am excited about this...yeah it's beta, but I think it's a good they're starting this (though when I test from my house in Hyde park to destination in west town it did also ask me to go on E Wacker drive....hmm...)

One thing I prefer google over others is its interface. I always hated mapquest's. I can also enter my destination much more easily. Don't know the address? No problem. Google will find it.

Second, less obtrusive ads.

Third, I frequently want to take, say bus, part of the way and bike the rest. Once google's biking directions gets on the way I will probably use this more.

Once it develops I can do street view, etc.
Right now it's still working out major kinks but I expect things to develop quickly given Google's history.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Y on March 10, 2010 at 9:01am

Oh I forgot to add one last thing: Everyone has heard of Google. Most noncyclists do not know mapmyride.

Hopefully this will encourage the current non-cyclists to think about adding cycling to their routine now that directions are there...

Amy Y said:

For one I am excited about this...yeah it's beta, but I think it's a good they're starting this (though when I test from my house in Hyde park to destination in west town it did also ask me to go on E Wacker drive....hmm...)

One thing I prefer google over others is its interface. I always hated mapquest's. I can also enter my destination much more easily. Don't know the address? No problem. Google will find it.

Second, less obtrusive ads.

Third, I frequently want to take, say bus, part of the way and bike the rest. Once google's biking directions gets on the way I will probably use this more.

Once it develops I can do street view, etc.
Right now it's still working out major kinks but I expect things to develop quickly given Google's history.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Green on March 10, 2010 at 9:09am

was juuuust about to post this. exciting, even in its early stages.

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on March 10, 2010 at 9:24am

Nice. Interestingly, it doesn't like IE7 (Bicycling choice doesn't show up), but it works fine with FoxOnFire. It even gives a couple of route choices (Chicago to Green Bay as test).

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Permalink Reply by Jackie on March 10, 2010 at 10:02am

Hahaha, That's what I was doing too! This is MUCH better! :-D


Jessica said:

THANK GOD. If you use the walking feature, you'll get put on miles of gravel roads. Ask me how I know. Ha.

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on March 10, 2010 at 10:47am

Thanks for setting me straight. To my defense, I used it a while back (signed up), but the ads are soooo annoying, it spoils the complete experience. I quickly left and vowed to never return..

Lee Diamond said:

You aren't using Mapmyride to its fullest extent Duppie. To use mapmyride to its fullest extent, you need to sign up, which is free if you can tolerate ads, or you can pay for a membership if you want to avoid the ads. There is an address bar at the top. Enter an address and it will mark an x on the map which allows you to click there. Start there, enter another address, put your mark where the x is. It will automatically route you there, and it usually does a good job.

It has been in existence for 4 years, and Mapmy run for an extra 2. They use Mapquest mapping technology, but have hundreds of thousands of maps and routes to pull information from in intelligent routing. I have rarely had any problems with it and I have used it without an alternate for the last 2 years with dozens of routes created through its assistance.

It is apples and apples.

Cheers - Lee

Duppie said:

You're comparing apples to oranges. Google gives directions (good or bad), whereas mapmyride allows you to create a route.

I agree with your assessment of Google. Relentless innovation will ultimately make this a great app.

Lee Diamond said:

OF all of the mapping functions I have used for cycling, I trust this the least of all. I would absolutely not trust it until it is ironed out a lot more for a route that was taking me into an area I didn't know that well.

It has continuously attempted to run me the wrong way down 1 way streets, into dead ends, and lots and lots of busy streets.

A much superior bike-friendly mapping feature can be found at

www.mapmyride.com


Obviously, Google is very good about responding to feedback, so comments and feedback will make this function better over time, but now, I would sooner look at a map than use this function.

Cheers - Lee

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Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on March 10, 2010 at 10:54am

I have to second that. The ads are just way too much. To the point of being barely usable.

Duppie said:

Thanks for setting me straight. To my defense, I used it a while back (signed up), but the ads are soooo annoying, it spoils the complete experience. I quickly left and vowed to never return..

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