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New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

mapzen.com

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Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#91

Post by vacri »

komali2 wrote: post #20
agumonkey wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Barely related but EV drivers also change their path. I don't have an EV (car or bike) don't really like driving in traffic (too chaotic for my brain) I often take smaller, slower roads where I just coast along smoothly. That said I wish I could try an ebike or even an EV.

Reminds me of how I had to take feeder roads and turn off the freeway during bad traffic when my shitty old toyota would overheat if I couldn't get good airflow into the radiator :P

My first car was a beaten-up old hunk of junk. I knew it was time to get rid of it when I realised that every time before I drove it, I was planning my route so that I'd be least inconvenienced if it broke down at any point along that route...

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#92

Post by seanp2k2 »

maxerickson wrote: post #13
rwmj wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just for cyclists. Around here Google Maps will find "shortcuts" through single track back country roads which are especially dangerous in winter by car or bike.

They will respond to feedback about such roads not being suitable for general traffic. If you are in the US the data problem is likely an artifact of TIGER which has hundreds or thousands of miles of roads that are given a single generic class which ends up being pretty unreliable outside of developed areas.

Even in the Bay Area, it's not hard to get GMaps to try to e.g. route you through a park, a fire road, a private road (the type with HOAs and nasty signs about how they'll prosecute you if you try to drive down their precious street).

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#93

Post by rmc »

aidenn0 wrote: post #88
maxerickson wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, address coverage and POI coverage are pretty spotty. The address would show on osm.org if it were in the data: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/39.93668/-75.16656

Google seems to only have gotten the address coverage it has by sending vans around with cameras and then making people type in the addresses for CAPTCHAs

Google is also a household name, so people and companies ensure they they enter their business into Google Maps.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#94

Post by celticninja »

boxcardavin wrote: post #73
OstrichGlue wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I ask what ebike you use?

I daily a Felt Nine E-20, it's a mountain bike with front suspension. I also have a Cube 400 and a Juiced u500 cargo bike. I recommend spending $3k on a bike with a Yamaha or Bosch motor, it's easy to justify that crazy price if you look at the money you'll save in gas/payments/gym expenses. Most importantly, I enjoy my commute now and I feel like a part of the city in a way that car commuting doesn't give you. Also,…

One of the benefits of cycling to me is the work out that I get twice a day commuting to work. Doesn't the e-bike take the work out of cycling?

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#95

Post by fcc3 »

I ride in London, and love https://www.cyclestreets.net/. There are versions for the web, android and now iPhone. It has a 'quietest route' option which I love. Android version gives you voice navigation. I put the phone in my shirt pocket and have it talk me through quiet streets avoiding the hassle of traffic. Open source. Runs on Openstreetmap data. Needs funding and promotion.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#96

Post by hycaria »

awjr wrote: post #66
switch007 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes it worth 3100 EUR?? That's seems a lot of money even for an electric bike. (I'm guessing your ex-demo was a bit cheaper)

Cost me £1700 (about €2000). High-end Mid-drive motors pushing 75nm+ are expensive. Bosch Pro CX line and Shimano Steps are the other two types available. If you start looking around, you see the cheaper mid-drive, i.e. Bosch Active Line starting around £2000 and are suitable for lighter people. The high end motors are usually combined with high end parts and bigger batteries. Thus you end up with bikes costing betwe…

Interesting. How do you keep it from getting stolen ?

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#97

Post by awjr »

hycaria wrote: post #96
awjr wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cost me £1700 (about €2000). High-end Mid-drive motors pushing 75nm+ are expensive. Bosch Pro CX line and Shimano Steps are the other two types available. If you start looking around, you see the cheaper mid-drive, i.e. Bosch Active Line starting around £2000 and are suitable for lighter people. The high end motors are usually combined with high end parts and bigger batteries. Thus you end up with bikes costing betwe…

Interesting. How do you keep it from getting stolen ?

Electric bikes are not as easy to take apart and sell on. (I'm sure I'll be proved wrong.)

I have a gold standard D-Lock that is side mounted on the frame (weight not an issue) that I use when parking up. There is also a dutch style rear wheel lock mounted to the frame I also use. The battery has a key that keeps it locked to the frame. The head unit for the eBike display is removable and I take that with me whenever I leave it locked up making the motor unusable.

Basically you're trying to steal a 25kg (55lb) bike with multiple security features and relatively unique electric parts that people would be wary of buying due to lack of guarantees.

Sometimes if I'm popping into a shop/café, I use the bike stand, lock using the dutch lock, and just take the head unit off. I'm guessing somebody could pull up in a van and just lift the bike but the opportunistic 'snatch' is so not going to get very far.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#98

Post by awjr »

revelation wrote: post #75
switch007 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes it worth 3100 EUR?? That's seems a lot of money even for an electric bike. (I'm guessing your ex-demo was a bit cheaper)

Not having and using a bike is costing you many times that. (Though if you don't need the e-thing 310€ will get you started)

I'd recommend multiple bikes. Ebikes can be inherently boring to go for a long ride on as you are essentially free-wheeling. Nothing quite like the quiet of the road as you are cycling along. Ebikes always make a whirring noise.

As a way to get from A to B quickly, nothing beats them in a city.

I did an Air Pollution piece for the BBC comparing exposure of somebody walking, cycling, and driving in and around Bath. As the cyclist, they told me I was travelling around the city a bit too fast for the pollution monitor to get all my data correctly. ;)

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#99

Post by dreamcompiler »

celticninja wrote: post #94
boxcardavin wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I daily a Felt Nine E-20, it's a mountain bike with front suspension. I also have a Cube 400 and a Juiced u500 cargo bike. I recommend spending $3k on a bike with a Yamaha or Bosch motor, it's easy to justify that crazy price if you look at the money you'll save in gas/payments/gym expenses. Most importantly, I enjoy my commute now and I feel like a part of the city in a way that car commuting doesn't give you. Also,…

One of the benefits of cycling to me is the work out that I get twice a day commuting to work. Doesn't the e-bike take the work out of cycling?

An ebike is just a lowpass filter for hills. Does a flatter route take the work out of cycling?

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#100

Post by Kihashi »

rwmj wrote: post #10
jschwartzi wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is a serious problem with Google Maps directions. They want to send cyclists down the fastest routes, which are usually the least safe routes. There's a route in Kent, WA that Google was recommending that was downhill on a 45 MPH two-lane street with no shoulder or dividers. Meanwhile, about a mile further south there was this safe, car-free route that wound through residential subdivisions.

Not just for cyclists. Around here Google Maps will find "shortcuts" through single track back country roads which are especially dangerous in winter by car or bike.

Not that it helps in the moment, but every time that has happened to me, I've reported it to Google and they've changed it.
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