Google Maps started life in 2005 offering directions for drivers, added transit routes in 2007, expanded to pedestrian navigation in 2008 — and now it covers bicycles, too.
The popular mapping site’s introduction of bike directions follows a couple of years of grass-roots lobbying that led the Mountain View, Calif., firm to disclose plans for this feature last fall.
To request bike routes, select “Bicycling” from the pull-down menu below Google Maps’ directions form. As a company blog post explains, the site prioritizes off-street trails (designated with thick, dark-green lines) over separate bike lanes (thinner, light-green lines) over designated bike routes (dashed, light-green lines) and also tries to avoid hills, busier streets and crowded intersections.
Full story: Faster Forward – Google adds bicycle directions to Google Maps – Washington Post