Bike-Friendly Intersections
I've noticed recently that there are certain intersections that are bike-friendly and others that are not. By bike-friendly I mean a stop light that can be "triggered" by a bike or one that does not require triggering. We should start keeping an inventory of these and work to get the unfriendly ones changed as part of our advocacy.
I would designate a "bike-friendly intersection" as being one where the cyclist can pass through without having to get off the road. I'm comfortable with roundabouts, most 4-way stops, and signals where I don't have to dismount to go press a "Walk" button. There are probably some signals which don't change for bikes and don't even have a walk button :-)
We could set up a new category for intersections, but the text-based lists are going to lose their usefulness as we add content. When I have time I'll look at the Google Maps API and see if I can devise a way to create content that way.
In the meantime, be thinking about intersections as you ride. If nothing else post a reply to this with intersections and we'll figure out a way to build an inventory.
For example:
Bruce & Donoghey - triggers for bikes
Farris & College - must press walk button
Meadowlake & Donaghey - must press walk button
Locust & Oak - must press walk button
Bruce & Farris - roundabout under construction
Also, feel free to reply and redefine my definition of "bike-friendly intersections"
Greg
Donaghey & College - Heading
Donaghey & College - Heading north on Donaghy, left turn arrow onto College triggers for bikes
Country Club & Tyler - Triggers for bikes at night with headlamps
Country Club & Prince - Triggers for bikes at night with headlamps 50% of time
I think I put more miles on my bikes than both of my cars.
Bike-Friendly Intersections
Prince & College - requires dismount
Tyler & Hogan - requires dismount
Prince & Morningside - triggers for bikes
Prince & Western - roundabout
There's few that really work well :-)
Greg Reddin
Google Maps
There is a way to do it with Google Maps, I have done similar things before. What I would like to do is create a form in Drupal to allow people to enter the info; then display it all on a Google Map by means of a point.
I will look into the Drupal storage structure and see if I can plot the data.
Chad Files - http://www.chadfiles.com
Google Maps
I wonder if our entire Master Plan could be represented as a Google map with colored routes and markers to indicate intersections.
Greg Reddin
Yes it can. When you go to
Yes it can. When you go to Google Maps, click the "My Maps" tab on the right. It lets you draw on maps and save them. We could also record the lat/long of everything and draw the map using the API if we wanted to. These maps can be shared and embedded; I am fairly certain that they can have multiple authors as well.
By the way, it is possible to use the API to plot information from the Drupal database. Here is a plot of all the streets that we have logged in the system.
http://www.cycleconway.com/intersections
I will create a new content type for intersections and plot those instead. All we have to do is enter the address of the intersection "Salem Road & College Avenue"; the code takes care of the rest. Any other data besides traffic signals that we want to capture?
Chad Files - http://www.chadfiles.com
Layers
I spent a bit of time today poking at the GMap API too. Stupid simple!
I put a bit of thought into it and here's what I'd love to do if we can. Have a set of "layers" on the map that users can turn off and on to keep the map uncluttered. Those layers might include:
Intersections - Green icons for those that are bike-friendly, Red for those that are not. The Info Window could include details such as whether it's on the master plan, whether it's a stop sign, stop light, or roundabout, traffic, etc. Maybe add yellow flags to places where cyclists need to be extra careful.
Locations - Maybe a special icon for those locations that have bike racks. Info window could include all the details listed on the current list.
Routes - Use green for routes that have bike lanes, yellow for sharrows (as they start to appear) or partial bike lanes, and red for no bike facilities. Or maybe different colors of routes for traffic density, etc.
Master Plan - Identify the routes that are designated bike routes on the master plan as it is developed.
Projects - Icons and/or routes for special projects we'd like to see happen, for example the crosswalk at Hogan on the Tucker Creek trail.
Thoughts?
Greg Reddin
Update on the Maps
Is there a way to do layers? That would be cool.
The content type for the intersections is live now. I am still working on the map. I do like the idea of different dots for the different danger levels.
Easy enough. I will add a map to do this as well. I still think the default view needs to be a list. I can link the map from there.
This is more difficult. Dynamically drawing lines on the maps is not real easy. We may just list the routes and show a small map next to them. When the node is expanded a larger version of the map can be seen. Ideas?
This can just be a true Google Map that we embed. Then we can do whatever we need to do using their tools.
Again, we can do this with a custom Google Map and embed. Sounds like a cool thing to have. Basically an "under construction" map.
Layers
I don't know of an *actual* way to do layers. I was thinking of something more virtual. For example (it's hard to illustrate textually), we might have a "Map" page. On that page would be a big map with some default set of things enabled. There would be a set of controls to show/hide (using JavaScript) intersection icons, location icons, routes, projects, etc. The thinking is that showing all this stuff on the map at the same time would clutter it up beyond usefulness. But if you're having trouble deciding where to eat, for example, you can just pop up the "layer" that shows restaurants that have bike facilities. (If we did a good job of marketing more bike facilities would start to show up :-) Maybe I'll draw out the interface on a napkin or something and we can take it from there...
As for routes, I know I saw some doc on how to do it, but I haven't messed with it yet. It may be beyond our ability to implement it reasonably.
Here's another harebrained idea regarding routes. As the plan develops and we designate streets and/or trails as "bike routes" one could potentially enter a starting and destination point and the site would map out a route from one place to another, preferring designated bike routes, and showing distance. This sounds extremely difficult, but think of it this way. What if we mapped out the city into a grid based on lat/long coordinates? Then we find out what "cell" a starting address is in and what "cell" an ending address is in based on the coordinates of that address. Then we use a list of east/west and north/south routes to navigate from one "cell" to another. Some of this could be built manually over time by manually building a database of routes, junctions, section mileages, etc.
I'd love to help with this if I can. I don't know drupal, but I'm learning the Google API's and I can write PHP and help with data modeling and such.
Greg Reddin
I See
I see what you mean by layers. That is actually easy to pull of now that I think about it.
As for the destination routes, that would be awesome. There are a few ways to do it but I do not know the best one. On first thought, I think the Google API can facilitate all of that. It is 100% JavaScript as I am sure you know. There is very little PHP involved. The map that I did for the intersections involved exactly 5 lines of PHP; Drupal did most of it, the rest was the Google API.
I would love to have some help. Email me and we can work out the details.
Chad Files - http://www.chadfiles.com