Apple Maps Cycling Directions Now Available in Chicago, Detroit, and More US Cities

[MacRumors]

Apple has added cycling directions for several parts of the Midwest, including Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Charleston.

According to Apple Maps enthusiast Justin O'Beirne, the updated coverage reportedly includes all of Ohio and West Virginia, as well as parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Virginia.

Since the beginning of April, Apple has been quietly adding cycling directions for parts of the Northeast, which suggests to O'Beirne that Texas and the Gulf Coast could receive coverage next, based on the pattern of Apple's map expansions.

Cycling directions take into account elevation, how busy a street is, and whether there are stairs along the route. The feature launched last year in a limited number of regions, and Apple has been gradually expanding support since.

Apple maintains a list of all of the areas where cycling directions are available on its website, but the latest locations have yet to be added. Outside of the U.S., cycling directions are officially available in Barcelona and London as well as cities in Canada and in mainland China.

Article Link: Apple Maps Cycling Directions Now Available in Chicago, Detroit, and More US Cities

 

[SueperDrive]

Unfortunately a very slow progress.

 

[ejpeg]

Very slow progress… where are the cycling directions for the Netherlands? The bike country? I mean London and Barcelona but not Amsterdam?

 

[headlessmike]

Very slow progress… where are the cycling directions for the Netherlands? The bike country? I mean London and Barcelona but not Amsterdam?

It's less work to add the handful of bike lanes in London or Barcelona than the myriad of lanes in Amsterdam.

 

[44267547]

Unfortunately a very slow progress.

Not seeing how it’s ‘unfortunate’, being that this is a very tedious process to piece together specifically for biking that requires accuracies.

And living in Detroit, I can tell you everything is a one-way street, where biking routes are not clearly marked, so that alone is a factor when designating a project when you look at the magnitude of this update.

 

[chenks]

ironically, we have a well published national cycle network here in the UK https://www.sustrans.org.uk/national-cycle-network

apple maps knows nothing about it, yet if i choose walking directions it routes me along the cycle path network (which can also be used for walking).

don't let the apple apologists make you think otherwise, cycling data is out there to be used, apple just choose to not use it. jeez even openstreetmap has infinitely more data than apple maps has.

apple are too busy trying to make the maps look pretty rather than concentraing on the data that makes maps usuable.

 

[Canyonero]

About time, only took like 1.5 years. Now I can finally delete Google Maps as cycling directions was the only thing I use it for.

 

[jonnysods]

Love the improvements, but it's going to take a long time before I'll see anything like that in our little city here I'm thinking.

 

[Deguello]

Not seeing how it’s ‘unfortunate’, being that this is a very tedious process to piece together specifically for biking that requires accuracies.

And living in Detroit, I can tell you everything is a one-way street, where biking routes are not clearly marked, so that alone is a factor when designating a project when you look at the magnitude of this update.

It can be both “unfortunate” and “understandable.”

 

[MozMan68]

ironically, we have a well published national cycle network here in the UK https://www.sustrans.org.uk/national-cycle-network

apple maps knows nothing about it, yet if i choose walking directions it routes me along the cycle path network (which can also be used for walking).

don't let the apple apologists make you think otherwise, cycling data is out there to be used, apple just choose to not use it. jeez even openstreetmap has infinitely more data than apple maps has.

apple are too busy trying to make the maps look pretty rather than concentraing on the data that makes maps usuable.

I guess you don't realize that even if something is open source or "free", that doesn't give Apple the right to simply use that data for their own purposes.

If that was the case, I guess they could just reference Google Maps when updating POI info, right?

They are carefully analyzing elevation data, stairs (I mean...c'mon!) and other data they have paid to have access to in order to provide this proprietary info to Apple Maps.

And why would they add this feature to The Netherlands when that is not even under the new Maps data yet?

 

[chenks]

whoosh - you totally missed the point there didn't you. the point was that apple maps already knows that route exists, as it uses it for walking routes, yet it doesn't use it for cycling routes even though the route is a national cycle route. it must have imported the route data from somewhere (these are not roads, but actual dedicated cycle paths).

well done on being a fully fledged apologist though.
guess those nice 3d images of buildings keep you happy.

 

[GroningenNL]

Very slow progress… where are the cycling directions for the Netherlands? The bike country? I mean London and Barcelona but not Amsterdam?

I can imagine why they didn't do Amsterdam? But why they still forgetting the rest of the Netherlands???

 

[MozMan68]

whoosh - you totally missed the point there didn't you. the point was that apple maps already knows that route exists, as it uses it for walking routes, yet it doesn't use it for cycling routes even though the route is a national cycle route. it must have imported the route data from somewhere (these are not roads, but actual dedicated cycle paths).

well done on being a fully fledged apologist though.
guess those nice 3d images of buildings keep you happy.

Sigh...I didn't miss anything...again, the fact that they show walking route data does NOT mean your assumption that it came from the source you listed is correct. Do they state as such in their data listing? I haven't even checked, but if you want me to, I will since it seems you didn't bother before you posted.

EDIT: SPOILER ALERT: Sustrans.org is not listed in the data providers for Apple Maps. They either collected the data themselves or downloaded some/all from another source they are legally allowed to utilize or paid for.

EDIT 2: source: https://gspe21-ssl.ls.apple.com/html/attribution-219.html

 

[chenks]

i never said it came from the source i listed, or assumed anything of the sort.
try reading more carefully in future.

 

[Dionte]

Bikes lanes are such a waste of space in Detroit. It’s freezing here half the year and even in the “summer” its very rare you ever see anyone use them. All they did was make traffic worse.

 

[MozMan68]

i never said it came from the source i listed, or assumed anything of the sort.
try reading more carefully in future.

From your last post...

"the point was that apple maps already knows that route exists, as it uses it for walking routes, yet it doesn't use it for cycling routes even though the route is a national cycle route. it must have imported the route data from somewhere"

If someone wouldn't infer that you are "assuming" Apple knows something since you state it right in that sentence, than I'm not sure what would. While not perfect, my reading comprehension (and knowledge of Apple Maps and their processes) is pretty good...again, not perfect...but pretty good.

 

[headlessmike]

Bikes lanes are such a waste of space in Detroit. It’s freezing here half the year and even in the “summer” its very rare you ever see anyone use them. All they did was make traffic worse.

I live in an arctic region and there's plenty of people here riding to work all year around on bikes, myself included. You need infrastructure in place before people can change their habits. Once I realized how much time I save (almost an hour per day) by riding the 10 miles I commute each way by choosing my bike over the car or train, I never looked back.

 

[chenks]

From your last post...

"the point was that apple maps already knows that route exists, as it uses it for walking routes, yet it doesn't use it for cycling routes even though the route is a national cycle route. it must have imported the route data from somewhere"

If someone wouldn't infer that you are "assuming" Apple knows something since you state it right in that sentence, than I'm not sure what would. While not perfect, my reading comprehension (and knowledge of Apple Maps and their processes) is pretty good...again, not perfect...but pretty good.

i said apple knows that the route exists in the mapping system - i never mentioned or assumed where they got the route from.

the link i posted was only to show that this country has a national cycle network that every other mapping system seems to know about.

you are the only person that made an assumption, and an incorrect one at that.
classis apple apologist tactics. form over function every time. oooh look at the shiny 3d building, good luck trying to get there though as our routing data is poor.

 

[MozMan68]

Bikes lanes are such a waste of space in Detroit. It’s freezing here half the year and even in the “summer” its very rare you ever see anyone use them. All they did was make traffic worse.

It's a chicken and the egg thing though...you have to have them for people to use them...and they will eventually even if they aren't right now. And for commuters, riding their bike in the winter is a fact of life (unless it is a deep snow or REALLY bad icy conditions).

While we have some weeks worst than others, winters in Michigan have been fairly mild and roads free of ice the majority of the time for the past 7 or 8 years (since the last polar vortex season).

 

[cupcakes2000]

i said apple knows that the route exists in the mapping system - i never mentioned or assumed where they got the route from.

the link i posted was only to show that this country has a national cycle network that every other mapping system seems to know about.

you are the only person that made an assumption, and an incorrect one at that.
classis apple apologist tactics. form over function every time. oooh look at the shiny 3d building, good luck trying to get there though as our routing data is poor.

Adding "Apple apologist" in to each statement you make, doesn't help with your backtracking, or indeed do anything than make you look like a child.

You clearly inferred that Apple could use all existing information regarding routes, when it's just not necessarily the case.

apple maps knows nothing about it, yet if i choose walking directions it routes me along the cycle path network (which can also be used for walking).

don't let the apple apologists make you think otherwise, cycling data is out there to be used, apple just choose to not use it.

 

[MozMan68]

the link i posted was only to show that this country has a national cycle network that every other mapping system seems to know about.

This is where I ask you to provide those mapping companies and sources (outside of Google Maps, which publicly made quite a hefty donation 10 years ago to partner with Sustran and use their data).

And correct me if I'm wrong, but Sustran only provides "routes" and not the detailed elevation data and "stairs" options Apple Maps has been providing when they release cycling directions, right?

I get that you want to have Sustran data on Apple Maps, but Apple does things their way and it seems they have made the correct decision on Maps to the point where Google is furiously trying to copy Apple Maps to catch up on the UX side of things (adding visual terrain data, adding stop signs/traffic lights, adding building outlines to routing). Apple may already be partnering with Sustran to use their data, but I doubt it.

 

[DrJR]

I'm not putting my life in the hands of Apple Maps in Chicago. Does it have a reminder so you don't forget yout bullet proof vest?

 

[MozMan68]

I'm not putting my life in the hands of Apple Maps in Chicago. Does it have a reminder so you don't forget yout bullet proof vest?

You shouldn't need Apple to tell you a bullet proof vest is required there.

 

[bluespark]

I'm not putting my life in the hands of Apple Maps in Chicago. Does it have a reminder so you don't forget yout bullet proof vest?

I've never understood this reflexive comment by some whenever Chicago is mentioned. It's a beautiful city (arguably America's most beautiful city) with lots of bike lanes and they are used all the time. While gun violence is a big problem in certain areas, there are a number of U.S. cities with more gun violence per capita, and many areas within Chicago are quite safe as compared to other large U.S. cities. People dine and drink outside, kids play in their front yards, and people flock to the river and beaches along Lake Michigan for outdoor activities.

OTOH, if some of you are convinced we are ducking bullets, then perhaps we don't want you here anyway.

 

[xraydoc]

I appreciate Apple’s effort, but who the hell is going risk riding a bike in Detroit?!