If Google Maps is your trusty travel companion, it's about to become your must-have travel accessory this summer—especially if your favorite mode of transportation is biking. On Wednesday, Google Maps launched a Bike Finder feature in major cities with bike share programs, which not only helps you find directions to the nearest bike share center, but also your nearest available bike. This new feature pulls real-time bike-sharing data from 24 cities in 16 different countries. With Google Maps, you can enjoy a picturesque, carefree bike ride in the Netherlands this summer. If this move sounds familiar, that's because the feature was tested in New York City last summer. The trial went so well that Google Maps decided to share the results internationally.
Now you can use this feature if you're in any of the following cities:
- Barcelona, Spain
- berlin, germany
- Brussels, Belgium
- Budapest, Hungary
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Dublin, Ireland
- hamburg germany
- Helsinki, Finland
- Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- london, united kingdom
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Lyon, France
- Madrid, Spain
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Montreal, Canada
- New Taipei City, Taiwan
- New York City, New York State, USA
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Canada Toronto
- vienna, austria
- Warsaw, Poland
- Zurich Switzerland
With just a tap of your finger you can find which bike stations have your bike ready for you and of course find the route to get there. To use the feature, you simply search for the name of the shared bike of your choice in Google Maps. From there, it will show you all the stations near you, along with the number of bikes available at that station - which is very helpful in letting you know which station to book to. That said, if you only have one bike left, you might want to look elsewhere, especially if the station is far away.
Currently, this feature is compatible with: Bicing, Deezer nextbike, Villo!, Molbubi, Divv, Dublin Bikes, nextbike Hamburg, Cit Bikes, C-Bike, Santander Cycles, Bike Share Connect, Velo V, BiciMad, Ecobici, Bixi Montréal, New Taipei City Ubike, Citi Bike, Bike Rio, Ford GoBike, Bike Sampa, Toronto Bike Share, CityBike Wien, Veturilo, Züri Velo.
To be clear, while this is definitely a great tool for traveling, it's not just for traveling: you can use this feature anywhere, even in your hometown. So if you rely on Google Maps for navigation every day in your hometown, there's no shame in that! Additionally, Google Maps can help you find the ~best~ route, which also means the safest route. So even if you know your city inside and out, you can still benefit from turn-by-turn navigation.
According to a press release from Google Maps, there are currently an estimated 1,600 bike-sharing systems and more than 18 million shared bikes in urban centers around the world. In comparison, there were only about 130 shared bicycles in the world ten years ago. There are a lot of new bike share programs here and a lot of commuters and travelers interested in staying on the ground, off the tracks and staying green – which is pretty cool. Especially when you think about how popular something must be for Google Maps to confidently add it to its functionality.
This new feature and the new technology behind it are made possible thanks to Google's partnership with Ito World. Ito World is a real-time transportation data resource that sends new global bike sharing data directly to Google Maps. Ito World continuously collects information on public transport conditions and ensures your Google Maps app is constantly reflecting current conditions - know exactly how many bikes are currently available on a bike share near you. The data also enables aerial views on Google Maps for Android and iOS. Google Maps Bike Share is now available in listed cities globally, with more locations and partnerships to be announced in the near future.
