Putting Bike Directions on the Map

BikeDistrict is a really great example of providing bike directions on an interactive map. The application allows you to search for and get cycling directions in Milan, Italy.

The application returns three suggested routes for any directions query: 'cycle', 'direct' and 'safe'. The 'cycle' option returns a route which preferences cycle paths and avoids the roughest roads. Milan has a lot of cobbled streets so selecting the 'cycle' route will return a route which tries to avoid the roughest surfaced roads. The 'direct' option returns the most direct route and the 'safe' option will avoid the most traffic busy streets and will preference cycle paths.

The staged directions for each route are color coded on the map and in the step-by-step instructions to highlight the road conditions for every stage of the journey. If you don't like a particular road in the suggested directions you can select it on the map and BikeDistrict will automatically route around it.

As well as providing bike directions BikeDistrict can show the location of all bike stations (with real-time information on the number of bikes and docks available), bike parking locations, drinking fountains, bike repair shops and biking related events.