I don't know about you but for some reason the "map" under the bike paths doesn't show for me when I load the page. If I click on the map it takes me to Wayfaring and then if I click on satellite view, and back to maps, I get the image in its full glory. This might be a bug in Wayfaring's software, and as you can see there's not a lot of support links there yet. Welcome to the world of early adopting...Anyway, I'm moving forward.
There are other ways to skin this cat. Howard County has data for building this map the right way (that's how the paper maps were generated) and I am pursuing that avenue as well. I probably will proceed on parallel tracks.
The goal is to make something freely available to anyone who wants it.
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This is a great idea! There is obviously a strong desire for an online pathway map, and using an open-source framework allows people to translate that desire to translate into action.
Another possible resource, aside from bloggers and blog readers, might be the Geocachers, or, actually, anyone who has a decent handheld GPS unit. With these, you can track waypoints while on the pathways and then upload the data to your computer. Here's how one guy does it. Though I'm not entirely sure how (this, perhaps?), there are ways to then upload your GPS data to Google Maps.
The county's pathway data can already be displayed on its interactive mapping site, but while this application is packed with great data, it's a bit cumbersome to use and doesn't have the familiarity or accessiblity one finds with Google Maps.
Another benefit of Google Maps is that it lets you add and share pictures, landmarks, comments and other bits of information that might be interesting or helpful.
Just some ideas for a rainy Sunday.
By the way, the Wayfaring maps worked fine for me with Firefox and Safari.
This is great stuff. Thanks. I really would like to find a way to use Google Maps since folks are comfortable with that format. So far, with Wayfaring, I have three villages done...Oakland Mills, Wilde Lake and Town Center....seven more to go....
One of my blog posts about CA facility prices morphed into a bike path map discussion.
Robin of ezColumbia.com commented with a link to this approach used in NYC: www.nycbikemaps.com.
I have started to add the Owen Brown paths to the map, and I should be able to finish soon. I have noticed that the distances are not accurate, it might be because it is difficult to input the little spurs to the different streets. If you want accurate distances it seems that you need to have seperate entries for each little path.
It is fun to look at the paths from above! I grew up in Columbia and never have needed a map, it is something I have taken for granted??
Silly billies,
The best paths are those uncharted.
The rest is mundane, having spoiled the wonder of discovery.
Cosmos,
Thanks so much for you help. I'm wondering if I should redo some of my work. I realize now that if I increase the resolution on the satellite maps I can actually see the real paths and some of my lines are off. DOH!
No problem Dan, I can't see half of the paths either. I think it goes back to when I rode my bike, ran, and rollerbladed every foot of path in columbia.
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