Google Brings Bike Directions to Mobile
By Chris Weiss
Back in March, Google launched an option for bicycle directions in its Maps feature. At the time, the company promised that a mobile version was on the way. After all, biking is often about impromptu adventure on the open road, so it would be beneficial to have the ability to map out directions on-the-go.
Yesterday, Google made good on its promise and launched Google Maps 4.2 for Android. Coinciding with National Bike Month, the update brings bicycle directions to your phone. Users will see a new bicycle icon on maps and can press it to get directions for bicycles. Users will also have the option of layering more bicycle-friendly routes that include a color-coded system with trails (dark green), roads with bicycle lanes (light green) and good bicycling roads that don’t have dedicated bike lanes (dashed light green). Cyclists can even add a terrain layer on the map to identify those lung-busting hills they might want to avoid.
Google said at the launch of its desktop bicycle directions that hiking trails were another requested feature, so those might be on the way in the future. I’d like to throw a shout out to parkour routes. I think it’d be pretty sweet to be able to see some popular parkour routes in a given city and get to work. Hopefully, that one’s in the lab too. [via Google Mobile Blog]
