I walk to a lot of the places I go. I take public transportation some other times. I have a car, but use it very sparingly. I put gas in it about once a month, maybe once every two months.
So sometimes I log in to Google Maps to have a look at the best route. In fact, last week on a business trip, my colleague and I were looking for a restaurant. We found one just a few blocks from the hotel and looked at the route.
It was the absolutely silliest path EVAH. It took us up 4 blocks, to the right, back down 1 block and then over 3 to the left. Or something. This was because of the one-way streets. But we were walking. One-way streets don't matter on the sidewalk. This has always pissed me off about Google maps. My colleague--another urban walker type--and I groused about this for a while.
So today when I went in to look for a local store I was delighted to see a new feature: walking! I immediately IMed my colleague and we laughed about this. He put in some of his local routes and found that the trip was now shorter by walking (since you aren't forced around the one way streets). In addition, he even had an option to show the right public transportation options! Check it out here:
I cut the pieces to fit better here--the link will let you go to the map and play with the features on your own.
Driving:
Walking:
My Somerville maps don't have public transportation yet--I don't know how that will roll out. But that would be very handy to see as well.
It isn't perfect. It doesn't map our bike path near my house yet--but we can't have everything at once.
This is not a world-changing advance, I know. But I think it is a useful thing--maybe people will consider walking more if it is a smidge easier. I already find it is less frustrating to do a route now.
Get out there and walk! Or bike. Put down that gas nozzle now!