Google Maps learns how to walk

[ckd]

The Google Maps blog notes that they now have walking directions. It's beta, like almost everything Google does these days, but still looks like a good start.

Collecting good data for this is going to be the big challenge.

(In other news, Readercon was great. I took a fair amount of panel notes, and plan to distill them into one or more posts.)

ETA: if you're walking in an area covered by Street View, it puts little camera icons next to the steps, so you can see what the cross street will look like. Wow.

Comments

[kodi]

That's awesome! Of course, it doesn't do me much good right now, since hopstop is better for NYC, and the answer to "how do I walk there" in central NJ is "please don't."

There's something deeply satisfying about pulling up a walking route from LGA to YUL, though. (Only 6 days, 11 hours!)

[ron_newman]

I've walked in both Princeton and New Brunswick, NJ. Seemed OK to me.

[kodi]

You're right. Many of the cities in Central NJ are reasonably walkable. It's just when you try to walk between those cities (East Brunswick to New Brunswick, for instance) that you end up condemned to death. Unfortunately, I'm right between them, and the only place I can safely walk to is Highland Park.

[ron_newman]

Sounds like my walk from Jersey City to Hoboken a few years ago. Maybe they've improved Marin Blvd. since then.