BikePortland.org recently interviewed a range of folks all involved in online mapping, route planning and related data to figure out how, when and why we can or can’t expect nationwide bicycle route mapping systems to come online.
One of the biggest hurdles, according to Aaron Antrim, owner of Trillium Transit Internet Solutions, the company that designs websites for municipal transit agencies, is a lack of data.  Google Maps, for instance, requires cities to upload their own transit info in a specific format…which, for most cities, isn’t an issue.  Cyclists, and the cities they live in, however, haven’t compiled the data to give Google or anyone else the info it needs to create routes tailored to cycling.
ByCycle.org has an open source platform that’s put together maps for several cities, and Peter Smith has dedicated his Google Maps Bike There blog to getting Google to set it up.
Read the full BikePortland article if you’re interested…
