Two Wheels One Baby

I, like David Byrne, am a lifestyle cyclist. The predominant reason that I ride is to get from A to B, not for pleasure…even though I get a lot of pleasure from doing it. Because bicycling is a necessity for me, there’s never been a safer, less hilly, prettier route option. When I moved to Madison in 2001, I knew it was a bicycle friendly city, and even though I didn’t have a map, I got on and rode and I taught myself where the safest, least hilly and prettiest routes were. And then I moved to Boston, one of the five worst cycling cities, in 2008. Even though I was a pretty seasoned urban cyclist, the car culture and poor condition of the roads were definitely daunting. I got over there not being a bicycle map to work with and yet again, I learned which routes were a better fit for me. Not everyone is like me, which is why I believe that knowing the safe cycling routes is the number one excuse people use not to engage in the activity.

This past Wednesday, March 10th, was a huge day for bicycling culture. Google added a bicycling option in addition to car, public transportation, and walking in the directions drop down menu. Here are my assumptions of why this will transform our culture:

1. Accessibility – everyone knows where to find and how to use Google maps and directions
2. One algorithm or governing body – with Google managing the code and symbols for every location, the maps will be easy to read and transferable between cities. No more proprietary dotted, slashed or solid lines.
3. Problems? – no one is more passionate about road conditions and safe routes than fellow cyclists and they will be sure to submit correct information via the ultra-slick application. This can be accessed after the respective map or directions have been called up, by right clicking on the map and selecting “Report a Problem”.
4. Subliminal cultural effect – just the presence of the bicycling option on the directions drop down menu will have an effect on people that they may not realize. Yes, people do get around on a bicycle. It’s not an activity reserved for second class citizens, weekend warrior triathletes or rails to trails pleasure cruisers.

Here’s the bicycle map of my stomping ground, Cambridge and Boston.