Apple Maps Cycling Directions Expand to Portland and San Diego

[Xavier]

Nope.

This is a heat map of *people who use Strava* which is pretty much only sports & recreational cycling. When I ask Strava for a route to/from work... it wants me to ride as though I'm in a peloton of 50 with no traffic on the roads, rather than the most direct & safe route. That isn't even on their silly heat map, nor are most dedicated bikeways (because the roadies don't use them...).

It's an extremely biased routing algorithm. Great if you want a sporty ride for exercise in an unfamiliar environment.

Respectfully, I disagree. I use this routing function all the time to use paths in my area. Sometimes you have to adjust it, but it is leaps and bounds better than routing from Google (and probably Apple even though I haven't used it). It is true that if a particular area doesn't have a lot of cycling activity, the data isn't going to be as good.

There is not cut and dry "best route" for any area, but in my experience for long distance and in the city, Strava routes has given substantially better routes than google, especially in areas that I am not familiar with. If you are cycling in your own city or area often, chances are you already know the best routes to use and don't need a routing function.

 

[Xavier]

Is this only available on Summit plan, right? I am never discovered routing / heat map features, unless subscribed.
I have full fat Garmin Edge, which have built in heat map function too so I still going freemium on Strava.

Correct, they recently put it under the paywall, but heat map data used to be free.

 

[Xavier]

I was hoping someone would mention Strava, either AppleMaps can implement similar functions that Strava has or purchase the company and integrate it.

Now if TripAdvisor functions can be incorporated into AppleMaps in some near future update, that will be one less app on my device and since its run by Apple, it will have user privacy baked in and maybe Siri gets a little useful too as an unintended consequence.

I am all for Apple creating better routing through data, but I hope dearly that Strava doesn't get bought out and crippled.

 

[Xavier]

Strava is also useless for routing. I just did a test and it wants me to bike on two major artery roads for miles at a time, rather than on side streets that go mostly the same way that have almost no traffic.

The best cycling routes use side streets and paved trails. Yes, the six lane road with heavy traffic might be the most direct route, but who wants to do that, even with a bike lane? It's noisy and scary and you're sucking exhaust half the ride. No thank you.

It most certainly isn't perfect. And I agree it doesn't currently have a good way to gauge a riders "experience on the road" level. There is a 'most popular' vr "most direct" option though. Hopefully in the future they can implement something like that.

 

[MozMan68]

I don’t live in any of the cycling areas, but I routed several cycling directions and was surprised with some of the detail I hadn’t seen mentioned before. One mentioned tam hat you would have to walk your bike against oncoming traffic on a certain road to get from one safe area to another…and was clearly marked on the map.

It also looks as though L.A. and Bay Area cycle routing was expanded as well.
You can now cycle in San Jose as well as far north as Point Reyes.

 

[Guda.FL]

Do Aleppo to Kabul Next.

 

[robfoll]

Why so slow Apple? Melbourne is a big cycling city, please get us sorted!

 

[iMacDragon]

Errr no! Sidewalks should be for pedestrians—quit endangering people who have little to no choices other than walking. Maps should rank the ADA accessibility of side walks.

In this country ( Finland ) they literally are majority signposted pedestrian/cycle co habiting (

), at least outside immiediete city center, and even there they usually only aren't if theres a cycle path on the road right next to the path.

 

[PimpDaddy]

I can’t wait until they include Copenhagen.

If your city isn’t covered by Apple Maps, and Google shows ****** bike routes in your area I can recommend the the app CycleMaps. Seems to have fairly good coverage in the US.

‎CycleMaps

‎BICYCLE ROUTES Uses routing information from a number of sources and prefers all bicycle paths and low intensity roads - everywhere! See your route's elevation profile! TURN-BY-TURN INSTRUCTIONS Provides you with clear turn-by-turn instructions indicating your next turn, which you can see at a...

apps.apple.com

 

[yellowbunny]

People who already have this: how is it? I know googles cycling directions try and send me down dangerous roads that you’d be insane to cycle down quite frequently

CycleMaps is far better and well worth the price. Far more control over your routes.

 

[deadlock]

I can confirm that the notification this week is linked to an expansion of the routing.

I'm in the north London suburbs and on launch routing wasn't available this far, but I could get routing closer to the center.

I got the notification earlier this week about "routing being available in London" and lo and behold I can now get routing around my local area and to the office, should I ever return there.

On first blush the routes are avoiding the worst roads in the area.

 

[sdz]

Will arrive in 2030 for 2 cities in germany! Yeah...

 

[hagar]

Still waiting for real-time transit in my country (Belgium). So I’m hoping bicycle directions will come here in 2032.

 

[MozMan68]

Will arrive in 2030 for 2 cities in germany! Yeah...

Still waiting for real-time transit in my country (Belgium). So I’m hoping bicycle directions will come here in 2032.

Yay! It's not an Apple Maps thread until users claim they won't get features for 10 more years!

 

[darcyf]

It does not work that way, for example Apple has to contract drivers, vehicles and ship equipment to the various places along with making sure the staff is trained in case something happens with the equipment, plus may have a few of its staff to take turns rotating shifts and follow a set path each day. In the real world one has to contend with weather, construction, accidents, etc. Money helps but its not the only part of the equation.

Yes, all things require effort. Apple should be better at putting this effort into action than what we’ve seen from them in maps.

 

[iTundra]

We need a standard definition of what kind of bicycle or walking facility is what with lines for bikeways and dots for junctions (often there will be a good bikeway but very dangerous junctions). Solid lines for dedicated bikeway, dashed for MAMIL bikeway, dot for dedicated walkway, dash-dot for shared use path.

Something like:

Green = Meets CROW Standards
Yellow = Protected bikeway/walkway or junction but not to CROW standards
Orange = Painted Bike Lane with bollards
Grey = Painted bike lane or shoulder without bollards.
Black = All Other
Red = Not safe for bicycling.

 

[iTundra]

now the only thing I need to do is to buy a bicycle 😅

Yep!

City Bikes | LocalMile

And then actually ride it instead of letting it collect dust

 

[MozMan68]

We need a standard definition of what kind of bicycle or walking facility is what with lines for bikeways and dots for junctions (often there will be a good bikeway but very dangerous junctions). Solid lines for dedicated bikeway, dashed for MAMIL bikeway, dot for dedicated walkway, dash-dot for shared use path.

Something like:

Green = Meets CROW Standards
Yellow = Protected bikeway/walkway or junction but not to CROW standards
Orange = Painted Bike Lane with bollards
Grey = Painted bike lane or shoulder without bollards.
Black = All Other
Red = Not safe for bicycling.

Maybe they’ll get there, but that’s a little complicated if we want the rollout faster. Apple does note bike lanes versus roads and has quite a decent warning system while routing as far as crossing streets or anything else a bike rider may need to be aware of.

 

[iTundra]

Maybe they’ll get there, but that’s a little complicated if we want the rollout faster. Apple does note bike lanes versus roads and has quite a decent warning system while routing as far as crossing streets or anything else a bike rider may need to be aware of.

Yes, but that's really only good for perhaps the 3% most adventurous bicycle riders - the fearless. https://streets.mn/2017/12/06/who-will-ride-how-far-when-on-what/

What's needed is something that's valuable to the other 97% of the population.

 

[MozMan68]

Yes, but that's really only good for perhaps the 3% most adventurous bicycle riders - the fearless. https://streets.mn/2017/12/06/who-will-ride-how-far-when-on-what/

What's needed is something that's valuable to the other 97% of the population.

Right...so the majority will find "bike lanes" as marked in Apple Maps VERY helpful, correct?

The real issue is that the majority of the USA (even "bike friendly" cities) do not have enough dedicated bike lanes. I'm really curious to see what this will look like in cities/countries that have a large percentage dedicated to cycling.

EDIT: BTW, that's a really cool article on cycling!

 

[Anonymous Freak]

People who already have this: how is it? I know googles cycling directions try and send me down dangerous roads that you’d be insane to cycle down quite frequently

I'm in Portland, and its choices are..... Interesting. To get from my house to downtown Portland, there is a nice bike trail that is completely separated from main roads, has traffic lights at all intersections with main roads. It would be slightly longer than taking regular roads (according to Google Maps, 1 hour 9 minutes as opposed to 59 minutes,) but Apple only offers it for part of the trip. (Basically where taking a regular road would be more direct, even though the more direct road has multiple "difficult intersection" stretches and stretches without a bike lane. What's really odd is that the stretch Apple does offer is a stretch Google says to not bother with!

I'm also amazed it has taken this long to add Portland - Portland has had publicly available bike route maps available for over a decade - with Google offering it as one of their launch cities when they offered bike maps in 2010.

Then again, I'm also annoyed that Apple Maps EV support requires specific EVs with smartphone apps that link to it - you can't just use EV routing without an approved EV manufacturer app on your phone. (I have an older BMW EV - and it's super annoying since BMW is the launch partner for iPhone "Digital Key"! Yet I can't use EV routing...)

 

[code-m]

Yes, all things require effort. Apple should be better at putting this effort into action than what we’ve seen from them in maps.

I agree that all things require effort, what I am saying is that Apple just like any other company is not a country of its own even though like some other companies its revenue far exceeds some countries GDP. Apple like other companies depends on local companies and infrastructure, cannot throw money at every problem and expecting a resolution promptly, life just not work that way for everything.

 

[Macaholic868]

When did riding a bike become cycling? I used to ride bikes with my friends when we were young. None of us were cycling. Cycling sounds like a term yuppies made up in the late 80’s to try and make riding a bike sound more important than it actually is. It’s like when somebody who likes to hunt or fish refers to themselves as as outdoorsman or sportsman. You’re fishing on a boat or sitting in a blind trying to kill Bambi. Nothing wrong with any of it in my view but I could do with less self-important descriptions of doing the same things as an adult you did as a kid.

 

[darcyf]

I agree that all things require effort, what I am saying is that Apple just like any other company is not a country of its own even though like some other companies its revenue far exceeds some countries GDP. Apple like other companies depends on local companies and infrastructure, cannot throw money at every problem and expecting a resolution promptly, life just not work that way for everything.

Yup, and the supply chain for the Apple Watch doesn’t just magically will itself into place because Apple has a lot of money either. Yet if they consistently shipped the watch with missing parts you’d have to scratch your head and not just blanket excuse them because supply chains take a lot of time and effort to get right

 

[MozMan68]

Yup, and the supply chain for the Apple Watch doesn’t just magically will itself into place because Apple has a lot of money either. Yet if they consistently shipped the watch with missing parts you’d have to scratch your head and not just blanket excuse them because supply chains take a lot of time and effort to get right

Hmmm…that seems like a fair comparison… /s