Sharrows anyone?

This topic has been on my mind for some time, but what prompted me to write about sharrows is a petition to add 'Bike There' to Google Maps.

Lots of people would support Google adding an option to plan out a route appropriate for cyclists between two points. Cyclists are always asking each other the same thing, so certainly the demand would be there. How do we get this thing built?

I'm a software developer and can appreciate something called "software re-use". Re-using software means finding existing software close to what we need, exploring the gaps, and then considering how those gaps might be filled.

Google Maps relies on existing databases of street maps. Does the information specific to cycling -- hills, lane width, traffic velocity, and bike paths/lanes -- exist in similar databases?

For some cities, the database and sofware both exist. Atlanta's own A-Train Trip Planner is an example of software that combines cycling with mass transit and knows about hills and traffic volumes. In moments it plots routes that I've spent years working out. On Wikipedia, several such systems are listed under the page Intermodal Journey Planner.

These systems probably go beyond what we're asking Google Maps to provide in one important aspect: they take into account putting your bike on a bus or train and thus have knowledge about your departure/arrival time and the transit schedules.

What else do we have to help cyclists get to their destinations? I really like the Bike Suitability maps (Midtown/Downtown example) that grade routes by color and indicate hills. This collection of maps is an excellent condensation of cycling route knowledge.

There are also on-line route databases such as bikely.com that list routes that other cyclists have worked out.

Finally, we come to sharrows, which we don't have in Atlanta. Yet. These have advantages over Bike Lanes in a few respects:

• Not limited to streets wide enough for separate lanes
  
• Indicates a lane position that avoids the door zone
  
• Provides motorists with a visual aid for judging the 3-feet clearance cyclists need
  
• Reduces the number of wrong way cyclists
  
• Still performs the function of letting both motorists and cyclists know the route is frequented by cyclists, but does so more prominently.
  

I support efforts to add "Bike There" to Google Maps, but I also understand there are both good alternatives and good existing software to build upon.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.7
Number of Cyclists seen: 11 (5 in, 6 out)
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Full-finger gloves for the first time this season and windy.