Cyclists in Ottawa and other Canadian cities will soon be able to map out bike routes on their computers and smartphones before heading out.
Google Canada announced Monday at the Sustainable Mobility Summit that its maps website will be updated by next week to include biking directions in several major Canadian cities, including Toronto, Waterloo, Vancouver and Gatineau.
“When we get a biking route, you’ll see the map changes to our bike layer which is optimized for biking,” said Google project manager Shannon Guymon.
“We deemphasize freeways and we emphasize bike trails.”
Smartphone users will also be able to access biking directions while they’re on the go.
“We’re proud to be the first region in the country to be fully operational on biking directions for Google Maps,” said NCC CEO Marie Lemay.
Google has expanded the bike directions service to 250 U.S. cities since March.
