I love maps. I always have. When I was a kid I used to spend hours planning out all of our family road trips on big fold out maps and CAA triptiks. I think I got more enjoyment of looking at the maps then actually travelling around the country.

I am pleased to announce that as of today, Google Maps has bike directions for Vancouver. They announced it was coming last week, but it’s finally live! Here are the bike directions from my neighbourhood to work:

It knows about the bike route along the seawall and the separated bike route down Carrall. It doesn’t seem to know about separated lane down Dunsmuir yet – or at least algorithms that try to avoid highways are keeping it from suggesting it. Google has requested that people “Report a Problem” when they notice bad directions, so I’ve let them know about Dunsmuir.

I’m really looking forward to a good bike directions on Google Maps. UBC has provided a map at cyclevancouver.ubc.ca for a few years, but it is tough to beat the convenience and speed of having cycle directions integrated directly into Google Maps.

In other map news, you should definitely check out Mapnificent – a project that aims to highlight public transit accessibility and walkability. Given a starting location, it will show you where you can travel to in 15-minutes or less using public transit and walking.