Aksium

Hi all,

I'm doing a bit of academic design research. I'd really like to know...

• If you use Google Maps for planning routes, what would you change to make it better?
  
• If you don't use Google Maps for planning routes, what would make you consider using it?
  

Thanks a lot!

alloo

I use Google maps. It uses 10 MPH as its basis for trip planning. Google Maps is fairly good.

mstateglfr 

I use it to start figuring out routes. I don't use it to create routes because routes can't be exported. So maybe I would change that.
Or maybe I would change the inability to touch and drag lines to change the displayed route.

Iride01 

For areas I've never been before I use google maps or google earths street view to see what the road looks like. I wish that the date of the street view images I am looking at was more easily available.

Also the satellite view sometimes helps me find potential water stops or convenience stores and eat places.

unterhausen

I use ridewithgps. They allow free accounts, you might want to look at that.

RWGPS blames all their problems on shortcomings with google maps, I remain unconvinced there is nothing they can do about it. But they seem more interested in their vain hopes of becoming starva

surak

I've made the mistake of using gmaps enough times to swear it off unless it's my last resort. Multiple times it will try to route through flights of stairs along a steep incline. Once it led me down through a private golf course where security made me leave the way I went in, leaving me back to square one.

WhyFi

I use google maps, specifically the satellite images and street view, for refining routes - primarily checking that a particular road has adequate shoulders and/or sightlines for the speed of the vehicular traffic on that road.

For actually planning my routes (which are primarily for road cycling, not utility or commuting), I either Strava or RideWithGPS - I really want to see where cyclists are actually riding, as opposed to what google seems to do, which is to simply show you which streets have bike lanes or which have been deemed "bicycle-friendly."

Germany_chris

I use Bikemap

Random11

I've only used Google maps to figure out the distance of a route I've already planned out. I've never used it to plan where to ride.

Steve B.

Dedicated sites like Ride With GPS allow better control of what route you create, as you can place "control points" using a mouse click to generate an exact route. Better then relying on Google to come up with one,.

Troul 

If GM made it easier to "trace" & gave suggestions for accuracy after the tracing of the route desired followed by an easy link to download to support devices like wahoo & Garmin, I'd consider it more. Additional benefit is if it allowed for color changes of the trace.

Inusuit

I use Google Earth to plan both road and gravel routes. I like the detail and the ease of checking distance. Haven't used Google maps. Am happy with GE.

rsbob 

I primarily use Strava because its mapping feature (once you figure out how to find it) is intuitive and easy. I have yet to figure out how to use the course mapping in Google even though I’ve Googled it a couple of times. My issue is maybe because I use IOS devices it doesn't work.

When bike riding and I need to see where I am I sometimes use GM, but have found on more than one occasion an identified street is either a private road or an unsaved goat path, As a result my trust level, other than main arterial, is low.

Good luck on your project. Interested in your results.

Miele Man

Whenever I've tried to use Google maps to plan a route it very often diverts from a direct route in order to get you onto a rail-trail or some other trail many of which are not paved. I do use Google maps to check a road rute that I've planned myself. The satellite view can be quite helpful.

Cheers

fishboat

Most/all the "..I wish GM would do or allow.....X" is what Ride With GPS already does. So..for the OP..look at RWGPS and design something better.. Or..to take it a bit further..Google (or Alphabet Inc.) could contribute a massive amount of money to building long distance bike trails and pathways as part of the marketing rollout of their new bike mapping app. That would get the cycling population's attention.


I've used this:
https://mapstogpx.com/
a couple times and it seemed to work well.

livedarklions

It actually routed me THROUGH a firing range once. I wasn't sure whether it was horrifying or hilarious. "Ironic routing" app.

M Rose

I use All-Trails and GAIA for all my trip and ride planning.

DaveReading

I use cycle.travel, great planner.

ZHVelo

Yes, it is very good to quickly see distance and elevation between two points. For a proper route that syncs to the bike computer I do it on Strava though (or ridewithgps and my bike computer does not have turn by turn from Strava routes, only from ride, but often I don't need turn by turn so stick to Strava).

Google has a ton of data, should be able to suggest most popular routes on routes that may have slightly alternative routes, like it does for cars. I don't think it really does this for cycling. Would be great if it would have Strava segments included but I guess that depends on both companies.

scottfsmith

One other one to look at for more useful features is Komoot. It tells you the kind of surface for example (not always 100% accurate but can be helpful). It lets you adjust your expected speed. You can look for gravel or MTB routes. Etc.

MNBikeCommuter

I find Google maps pretty limited as it relies on trails and bike lanes it knows about. I primarily use roads with good shoulders which are generally safer and shorter than what gmaps proposes. I do use satellite view to see if I can figure out if a road has good shoulders.

prj71

Ride with GPS. No need to use google maps.

Troul 

i use GM to know if it's a thru street for peds or a total cb.

prj71

FYI...Ride with GPS has a google maps layer in it. Therefore using GM is not necessary.

mstateglfr 

Since RWGPS has been mentioned multiple times, Ill add that I am pretty annoyed with how the system categorizes what is paved and unpaved riding.
I use RWGPS to create routes and whenever this feature was added, it was added too soon since it is so very wrong(at least in the 3 metros I have used it).

It labels maybe 20% of gravel roads as 'unpaved'. I personally dont care because I happen to know what is and isnt gravel, but it would really screw someone over if they didnt know ahead of time.