Sustrans Scotland Goes Google

Pioneering path charity Sustrans has always been big on maps. No point in having delightful routes if people don’t know where they are/go. It went onto the internet quite early too, with maps to show the National Cycle Network. The web has moved on and the Sustrans’ main mapping now looks a bit primitive.

As in several other areas, Google has revolutionised the ‘on-line mapping experience‘. People now expect to be able to drag and zoom with ease. The addition of high resolution aerial views has made things even better – would help if the resolution around Edinburgh was as good as that of the city…

Now Sustrans in Scotland has launched a new site (Routes2Ride) which uses Google maps to show some selected routes. There are currently 26 – four in, or from, Edinburgh: Balerno-Bathgate, Edinburgh-Musselburgh, Union Canal-Water of Leith, Edinburgh-Cramond Brig. (Though the ’search’ only finds those with Edinburgh in the title – a bug needing to be fixed, especially if more routes get added.)

Making use of “web 2.0” the site is similar to a blog and allows/encourages comments. John Lauder, Sustrans’ National Director for Scotland says: “Routes2Ride is a really user-friendly website which has been developed specifically for people to share their experiences of cycling in Scotland and find new rides to try out.”