FAQ

11:06 Adrian 0 Comments

Q: Why do you say Google Maps Cycling layer is the key tool for unlocking more cycling trips by more people?
Because it takes a lot of money, effort, time and political capital to change infrastructure, laws and road use priorities in car-centric cities to make them suitable for mainstream transport cycling. Michael Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan type leadership is the exception and doesn't last for long. So it's essential to unlock more transport cycling trips by those residents with the fewest barriers and the most to gain (the low hanging fruit). Building this critical mass is the key to shifting the political priorities. It will still take a lot of time

Also, "build it and they'll come" is a heartwarming slogan but isn't quite true. Existing cyclists will certainly use better cycling infrastructure, but non-cyclists don't magically get converted.

Q. Shouldn't Google Maps Cycling layer display all cycling infrastructure regardless of quality and safety?

See the About page where I've explained that the purpose of Google Maps Cycling layer is to advise cyclists of the best route to get from A to B. It logically follows that unsafe routes and cycling infrastructure that is clearly useless (very unsafe or low quality, too piecemeal to form a route) shouldn't be displayed.

Q: What is the official information on Google Maps' Cycling layer? How are Trails, Dedicated lanes and Bicycle-friendly roads defined?
The initial announcements advised:

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
Google Blog - Biking directions added to Google Maps

The full official guidance is available via Google Map Maker Help:
> Types of lines
> Road attributes
> Trail, path, and railway attributes
> Trails and paths
> Resources for Map Maker edits
> Rate and object edits
> Map Maker Issue Tracker

Q: When is the best day and time to film the cycling videos? What impact does this have on the route conditions?
The most useful, representative time is when most cycling trips occur (or would occur) - such as the weekday morning and late afternoon peak traffic periods. Also, on weekday early evenings for social trips. And on weekends during the day for errands. I try to record most of my videos during peak periods, but sometimes for safety reasons, or because I'm taking the video as part of a necessary trip, I record at other times.

In most countries the major impact of the day/time on cycling infrastructure availability is clearways - the left most lane of some roads does not allow parking during peak morning and late afternoon periods. In Victoria, clearway times typically include Monday-Friday 7am to 9am and 4:30pm to 6:30pm. Some roads have extended clearway times, starting a little earlier and finishing a little later. All clearway periods fall within these timeframes: Monday-Friday 6:30am to 10am and 4:00pm to 7pm.

In Victoria, on roads with bike lanes and clearways, the bike lanes are only clear during clearway times. Outside of those times the bike lanes allow vehicles to be parked in them. However, this often leaves an informal "bike canyon" between the parked vehicles and the right lane which becomes a de facto cycling lane.

Q: Why work on improving Google Maps and not Open Street Maps (OSM)?
Essentially, because Google Maps is far more functional, useable, accessible and scalable. I wish Google Maps incorporated some cycling-relevant OSM metadata but, on-the-whole, Google Maps is by far the most popular tool for bike route mapping and this isn't likely to change for the forseeable future.

I'm happy for anyone to use the data or suggestions here to improve OSM.

Q. What Google Maps changes and enhancements have been discussed and what is their status?
Logged enhancement requests are in: Map Maker Issue Tracker

I will collate links to the most relevant discussions below:

> Issue 2264: Categories for Bicycle Suitability should use "stress" classification, describing the road, instead of "prefer/avoid/blank"

> Avoid & Preferred: Not enough categories for "Bicycle suitability"
> Definition of "bike friendly"