M II A II R II K
Senior Member
A better way for bicycles
Mar 21 2010
Leslie Scrivener
Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/782823--a-better-way-for-bicycles?bn=1
Ride The City Website: http://ridethecity.com/toronto
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The Toronto Transit Commission, looking for feedback on its new online trip planner, might do well to consult Ride the City, a newly launched route planner for cyclists. Ride the City is clean, simple and fast. Enter your starting point, destination and voila. You can choose one of three routes – safe, safer and most direct. You'll also see trip distance, estimated travel time, written directions and a map outlining the route. Local bike shops are also marked. You can have directions sent to your phone. It couldn't be more efficient.
The site was started by Vaidila Kungys, a New York City planner, and his former New York University classmate Jordan Anderson. They are still tweaking it and want Toronto cyclists to suggest improvements via a feedback tab. We asked some local cyclists to test Ride the City. They were impressed. "It's fabulous. I'd give it an A plus, plus," says city Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who cycles from McCowan Rd. and Eglinton Ave. in Scarborough to City Hall on Queen St. W., a 20-kilometre trip.
"It makes the city seem more accessible," says Kristin Schwartz, newcomers' cycling outreach co-coordinator for the settlement agency, CultureLink. "It's quite useful on distances, good routes and safety," says Geordie Dent, who works for the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations. "I kind of wish we had a transit trip planner that was as useful." So do we. Bloggers commenting on the TTC trip planner, still in the test stage, found it "confusing" and "less than intuitive." TTC activist Steve Munro wrote that it looked like the mapping data was created by people who don't use transit and aren't familiar with the city. Like Ride the City, the TTC is soliciting comment and recommendations from transit users.
As much as they liked the notion of the Ride the City, regular riders also noted its shortcomings, bugs that need to be sorted out. Architect Martin Kohn, who doesn't own a car, rides to job sites across the city, as do other members of the firm Kohn Shnier. "It's a good thing to have," he says. Especially for cyclists not sure of the routes to new destinations. Still, he questioned a given rise in elevation of nearly 300 metres from his Spadina Ave. practice to Thorncliffe Park.
Cycling advocate Rick Conroy tried a dozen routes, but found his own experience as a cyclist – he rides to York University from the Annex – trumped the routes suggested by the planner. "Not once did they come up with the routes I would take. Is this because I know the city a whole lot better than most? Or is there not enough input into the map?" But a novice cyclist or visitor would do well on the routes suggested, he says, though some of the "direct" routes were intimidating.
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Mar 21 2010
Leslie Scrivener
Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/782823--a-better-way-for-bicycles?bn=1
Ride The City Website: http://ridethecity.com/toronto
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The Toronto Transit Commission, looking for feedback on its new online trip planner, might do well to consult Ride the City, a newly launched route planner for cyclists. Ride the City is clean, simple and fast. Enter your starting point, destination and voila. You can choose one of three routes – safe, safer and most direct. You'll also see trip distance, estimated travel time, written directions and a map outlining the route. Local bike shops are also marked. You can have directions sent to your phone. It couldn't be more efficient.
The site was started by Vaidila Kungys, a New York City planner, and his former New York University classmate Jordan Anderson. They are still tweaking it and want Toronto cyclists to suggest improvements via a feedback tab. We asked some local cyclists to test Ride the City. They were impressed. "It's fabulous. I'd give it an A plus, plus," says city Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who cycles from McCowan Rd. and Eglinton Ave. in Scarborough to City Hall on Queen St. W., a 20-kilometre trip.
"It makes the city seem more accessible," says Kristin Schwartz, newcomers' cycling outreach co-coordinator for the settlement agency, CultureLink. "It's quite useful on distances, good routes and safety," says Geordie Dent, who works for the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations. "I kind of wish we had a transit trip planner that was as useful." So do we. Bloggers commenting on the TTC trip planner, still in the test stage, found it "confusing" and "less than intuitive." TTC activist Steve Munro wrote that it looked like the mapping data was created by people who don't use transit and aren't familiar with the city. Like Ride the City, the TTC is soliciting comment and recommendations from transit users.
As much as they liked the notion of the Ride the City, regular riders also noted its shortcomings, bugs that need to be sorted out. Architect Martin Kohn, who doesn't own a car, rides to job sites across the city, as do other members of the firm Kohn Shnier. "It's a good thing to have," he says. Especially for cyclists not sure of the routes to new destinations. Still, he questioned a given rise in elevation of nearly 300 metres from his Spadina Ave. practice to Thorncliffe Park.
Cycling advocate Rick Conroy tried a dozen routes, but found his own experience as a cyclist – he rides to York University from the Annex – trumped the routes suggested by the planner. "Not once did they come up with the routes I would take. Is this because I know the city a whole lot better than most? Or is there not enough input into the map?" But a novice cyclist or visitor would do well on the routes suggested, he says, though some of the "direct" routes were intimidating.
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