After several years of inattention, I’ve finally tweaked my old online bike routing application.
SOme time ago, I mashed up the Google Map API with MapQuest’s bike routing API to create this online bike routing app. In doing so, I’m probably violating the Terms of Service for both. I did this partly as a recreational programming exercise, and partly because Google Maps didn’t do bike routing outside of the USA at the time.
Since then, Google has added bike routing to big chunks of the world. My online map, however, remains somewhat popular, and I still receive occasional requests to update the tool, so I gave it some much needed love.
Updates over the past week include:
- Improvements (I hope) to the look and feel.
- A usable mobile version.
- Added options to either avoid or favor hills, and to adjust your preference for bike facilities.
Some observations and notes:
- There’s a button to compare the MapQuest route against the Google bike route. If Google doesn’t support bike routes for your location (in Japan, for example), Google walking directions are provided.
- The Bikeways preference ranges from “Never!” to “Always!” with several values in between. MapQuest seems to have a harder time finding a route the closer you get to “Always!”
- The hills preference setting doesn’t seem to do much in my part of California. I suspect that’s because routes are limited for the areas I ride. Changing hill preference seems to have the most dramatic effect when selecting for long distances in places like Colorado.
I’m considering additional tweaks like a feature to export GPX. Let me know what you think.
The “Bike There” button gets bumped below the fold, on my computer. Maybe move it up next to the “To” field. http://i.imgur.com/vTZ2UsV.png
Thanks for the feedback, Stuart. I’ll move it up as suggested.
Seems to be working nicely