Google has added their pedal powered Trike images to Streetview on Google Maps.
“The Trike” is Google’s man-powered version of the Google Streetview car that captures 360 degree images and saves them along with GPS data. The Trike is used to capture Streetview data where the cars cannot go — on bike paths, for example.
Google yesterday announced the inclusion of Trike images to Streetview.
I didn’t find any off-street views in Santa Cruz. In the South Bay, Google skipped the Guadalupe River Trail and Los Gatos Creek Trails, but the Stevens Creek Trail (which, after all, runs nearly to the Googleplex) is captured, including this view from the bridge over Central Expressway in Mountain View.
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Streetview from Stevens Creek continues on the main bike path through Shoreline Park, along Charleston Slough to Bayshore Road and into Palo Alto Baylands Preserve, where Streetview stops short of crossing into East Palo Alto at San Francisquito Creek.
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It’s a decent start and I look forward to seeing more bike path imagery in my area. Given that the engineer who came up with the Streetview Trike was reportedly inspired by ice cream trikes in front of the Ferry Building in San Francisco, I’m a little surprised that there’s no imagery available for there. A virtual bike tour of the Embarcadero or the Golden Gate Bridge would be kind of cool to have.
Is Streetview available for the bike paths in your area?
I’m kind of surprised that the San Francisco Bay Trail is not included (at least completely). Googlers commute via that bike route from San Francisco (or the Millbrae BART) to the Google Mountain View campus.
I never had any desire to drive one of the streetview cars around (despite my inherent geek nature) A trike, however… I might just want to do such a thing!
I wonder how you apply for that job, and when they’re coming to Dallas?
I don’t know how to apply, but I read somewhere they usually hire people like hockey players.