
Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes - dsr12
https://design.google/library/designing-google-maps-motorbikes/
======
keyle
That's very cool.

One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a
location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough...

Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to
latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster.

So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works
great, for about 20 mins. I live in Australia and the heat of the sun on the
phone + google maps using CPU will literally shut off the phone as it reaches
50C+... The phone just turns off on me as I approach the hard-part of the
journey... Superb.

So now I just research it before leaving, mentally map it in my mind, look up
street view for turn offs... Then I Yolo it all the way. When I finally admit
I'm lost, I pull up, bring out the phone and start google maps then...

~~~
Itsdijital
Years ago before a long motorcycle trip I made a nice setup to use google maps
while riding for the trip. A custom mount, ran all the charging cables, NFC
tag and tasker profile so it knows when it's mounted.

I used it for 3 days before a guy told me to give old fashioned maps a try,
and gave me a few state maps. My tank bag has a nice window slot for them, so
why not use it in tandem?

Within 2 hours I had totally stopped paying attention to the gps and just went
off the map. The next day I didn't even use the gps at all, and ended up using
just maps for next 3 weeks riding around the country.

If the signage is good (in the US it's superb, people just don't pay attention
to it/understand it) then I have found a regular old maps to be far superior.
You can quickly see all info on the map (no dicking around with zoom/scrolling
on the touchscreen) and you can adjust your route very easily on the fly.

Seriously, I cannot recommend paper maps enough. Take some time to understand
how to read the map (if you're not sure already) and pay attention to road
signs. The two integrate beautifully and make getting around easy. If you have
a place to put it on your bike, give it a try.

~~~
systemtest
I ride motorcycles in cross-Europe trips for fun but prefer the GPS. My GPS
will look for small twisty mountain roads with lots of elevation changes and
lots of corners. Roads that are only on highly detailed local maps, and I
don't want to carry 30 maps on a month long road trip. Road signage is simply
not a thing on these roads as they are only used by locals. I can disable
highways, B-roads, toll, ferries and on my roadbikes I will disable gravel
sections. It will tell me how many kilometers till the next gas-stations along
the trip and warn me about speed traps. Not that I speed on purpose, but
sometimes you are a couple of kms above the limit.

Especially on sections where I have to change direction every 300 to 500
meters I don't want to deal with reading a map. Voice navigation in my headset
and an occasional quick glance at the screen is much safer than fiddling with
a paper map.

~~~
mi100hael
Can you share what app/device you use that has all of those features like
specifically picking out fun roads? I'm not aware of that feature on any major
nav app.

~~~
jmkb
You can try Kurviger -- it uses OpenStreetMap data and chooses "fun" curving
routes using the Graphhopper routing engine.

[https://kurviger.de/en](https://kurviger.de/en)

------
wickberg
I use it on my motorcycle in the US, but there are some major pain points.

I have a Bluetooth headset in my helmet, so I can hear the directions... which
are usually close enough. But you still do get some occasionally confusing
voice prompts that - without the screen to glance at - may lead you to a wrong
turn.

I do have a handlebar mount I've resorted to on a few occasions, but as others
have noted (a) the phone can overheat, (b) subjecting a $500 device to the
vibration and chance of falling is not ideal, and (c) I've had the
acceleratorometer actions kick in unexpectedly, leading to the phone battery
dying faster since it turned the LED flashlight mode on.

That said, I have only one serious complain - the opt-out-of-route-change that
they've made the default is a huge issue, and I really wish there was a
setting to disable that. If I've gone in and picked between a few potential
routes, having it decide a different one is faster and that I'll need to press
a button on screen to stay on my preferred heading ends up leaving me off
course and/or on the side of the road digging my phone back out.

(And before someone suggests voice commands to fix it... that's not a workable
solution. While the helmet cuts down noise, it doesn't eliminate it, and I
have enough problems with voice recognition that I leave it permanently
disabled.)

~~~
johnbrodie
I have a lot of the same issues. Bluetooth headset turned up to almost max +
foam earplugs works reasonably well, as long as I already have a good idea of
where I'm going. Handlebar mounts work fairly well, but putting the phone in
the sun in Arizona during the summer often leads to it turning off. There's
also quite a few reports of phones either flying off mounts or camera
lens/focus dying due to the vibration.

In the end, I normally leave the phone in my pocket, make due with voice
alerts, and leave a few minutes early so I can safely miss an exit without
panic. The last thing you need on a highway filled with texting drivers
(completely legal in AZ) is to be distracted and making multi-lane changes at
the last second.

------
bungie4
In North America and Europe, it's common for motorcyclists to quickly layout
routes when touring using google maps. They (google) have made a UX that makes
it ridiculously easy (as compared to something like Garmins Basecamp -which
should be used as shiny example of how not to design an UX) The issue is that
you cannot directly save the maps in GPX format to upload to your GPS. So
thiers a world of work arounds, some easy, some not, to get a KML file into
your GPS.

If it supported GPX natively, you would likely capture the entire North
American and European touring market in one fell swoop. I'm guessing you
(google) never asked which kind of goes against the entire point of this
article

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77ko
What would be cool if there was a very simple low power display bluetooth
which just displayed an left/right/upp arrow with a number counting down when
to turn or stop.

Phones don't really work mounted on a bike, but a simple display could do the
job. Sort of how android watch displays an arrow, but using a low power
screen.

~~~
Halop
I feel you - I have tried attaching my android watch to the handlebars and
functionality wise it's perfect UI for navigating.

However it takes about 10 seconds for the screen to dim to the monochrome
power saver mode and then it's impossible to see anything during daylight.

Android wear does not support a permanently on screen all the time and I would
totally buy a cheap device like that just for navigating.

~~~
modeless
How about a Pebble? Always on, sunlight visible, cheap. The company is gone
but they still work. This is what you can get for navigation:
[https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/530a8f36fc62a5e...](https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/530a8f36fc62a5e01100001c)

~~~
TeMPOraL
Pebble was _the_ best. Was fun while it lasted. [*]. I'm counting days until
my Pebble Time dies and then I'll be off the smartwatch game until something
else pops up that's not just a toy or a fitness tracker.

~~~
Angostura
I bought a Pebble Time Round after the company went bust at knock-down price
and love it. Just waiting for the app/Appstore to die. Still working OK at the
moment, though.

------
cweagans
IMO, this is one of the applications where AR really shines. Having a HUD in
your helmet to show this kind of information would be absolutely amazing.
There have been attempts, I know, but it doesn't seem like there's anything
really consumer-oriented at this point (Skully, for example, was ridiculously
expensive - over $1k for a helmet, IIRC. That's plainly out of the realm of a
normal helmet purchase).

~~~
jedimastert
I'm betting there's a fairly easy way to adapt full head helmets for AR.

~~~
cweagans
I've looked into it a bit. I don't think "easy" is the right word here. :)

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adityapurwa
I remembered that Google invested in Go-Jek, so with this immersive trip and
also with the data collected by Go-Jek drivers all around Indonesia, I think
they will be able to provide reliable map service for motorbikes.

I used Motorbikes everyday, while in my city it is quite helpful to have
Google Maps, sometimes the map just didnt understand about the rules, that
this road is one way, that only cars is allowed.

One bad story that I had with Google Maps while riding a motorbike was, Google
map decided to reroute itself without me knowing (phone is in my pocket, I
only listened the navigation aid), I ended up circling the city back because
Google Maps decided that it is the best way to get to my destination. I wasted
an hour circling the city before I noticed I was heading back to the direction
where I came fron and stopped to check the Google Maps app and noticed it
routing me through another routes.

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thunfischbrot
And no mention of a high-contrast display mode. Seems like such low-hanging
fruit to have a black-and-white mode which would help make the map more
legible in direct sunlight, with much larger navigation cues.

------
rcMgD2BwE72F
The public transportation and cycling options will become even more hidden in
the app with this addition.

How can Google Maps continue defaulting to car and Uber when asks for
directions in ultra-dense cities with great public and cycling infrastructure
(like Paris), while Google pretends helping the environment?

Even when the subway directions are 10x cheaper and faster, Google Maps keeps
highlighting car directions. Maybe the referral fee that Google gets from Uber
(and other "partners") explains it.

~~~
davewasthere
Actually, Gmaps seems normally fairly decent for cycling, which was my main
method of transport.

Only thing is, there are tons of cool cycle routes around, and I'd like to say
I prefer those. It needs some safety/effort-based preferences for routing.
Like, I'd prefer to ride 2 or 3km more, if it's on a dedicated bike path,
rather than ride direct to my destination on busy traffic roads.

~~~
namibj
Especially because momentum is not nearly as free on a bike than on something
with a somewhat powerful motor. You can go faster if you don't need to
accelerate as much (due to breaking or inclination). I would like a sort of
flywheel or so, something able to store energy for a few minutes and dump it
about as fast as the traction allows. Even if it has to be manually switched
between slow and fast acceleration based on whether conditions with a tool,
that'd be fine. And then just give me something for my thumb to work or so
that either uses the same setting to decide the breaking force, or allow full
control over it. It shouldn't be too hard to do.

And no, an electric motor won't cut it, due to power density. I don't want it
to be limited to 500 W or so, I want it to have more than that. And mechanics
have much more power density than electromagnetics.

------
Reason077
Could Google Maps for Motorbikes be configured to route noisy motorbikes away
from residential streets? Especially late at night when I’m trying to sleep!

~~~
uitgewis
There's a common belief among motorcyclists that having loud exhausts help
alert other car drivers of their presence, making them more visible on the
roads. There are various arguments in favor and against that notion, but if
it's getting you to notice them I guess it is better than nothing.

~~~
criddell
I never believed that. I was an avid motorcyclists for decades and spent lots
of time around riders of loud pipe bikes. If safety was what drove them to
straight pipes, then I would expect those concerns to carry through with the
rest of their gear.

~~~
Reason077
I read somewhere that statistics actually suggest the opposite - that bikes
with loud pipes are more likely to suffer a serious accidents and injury. I
suspect that's because the type of bikers that have loud pipes are also the
ones riding aggressively, overtaking frequently, weaving between traffic
lanes, etc.

------
AnnoyingSwede
Riding in the Netherlands with google maps and a scalaG9x and a android phone
in the pocket works pretty okey. The few issues i have is bluetooth not being
on continuesly, so as the phone starts giving a new direction, i might miss
the first few words, but as i get closer to the exit and the second or third
remind goes off, i tend to hear the full message. I am using english phone
settings and language settings, and this unfortuatly means that every
streetname in Dutch are pronounced in English, which give it a comic tone that
sometimes takes a second to wrap my brain around. Other than this, traffic
redirects due to congestion works like a charm. I also own a Garmin Zumo 220
which i had mounted on next to the speedo, but since you have to pay for
updated maps after a year, this device is now collecting dust in favor of
Google.

~~~
timmipetit
Yeah, having those Dutch street names pronounced in English is so confusing
and funny! It would be perfect if you could use your phone in English, but use
your local language for navigation. Still haven't found a way to achieve this
on my Android phone though :(

~~~
ferongr
The App Settings xposed module allows you to change locale (among other
settings) per app. I use it to keep Google Maps and Here Maps in Greek while
my device locale is English.

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bg0
When do I get to use this?! At the moment I'm just "avoiding highways" on my
scooter in Austin. Would be cool to see how this translates in the US

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gmuessig
Who at Google is doing this work for manual and motorized wheelchairs and
mobility scooters? Those all require different way finding I hear Brett
Heising of brettapproved may be available..

------
chewz
I had been riding a lot in mountains in North of Thailand and generally in SE
Asia. Mostly small country roads.

Google Maps and also Apple Maps is impossible to use in bright sun when you
just stop to check the map and have your rainbans on. The road is beige on
dark yellow - the color palette is just wrong and impossible to adjust.

------
ensiferum
Will google maps route the bike riders through their already current de-facto
routes such as pedestrian footpaths and other such lanes that are completely
abused by motorcyclists?

Slightly off tangent but having been to Jakarta (never again, what an
absolutely disgusting slum of a city) the traffic in that city is probably the
worst ever (maybe Indian traffic can have it beat)

Even more off tangent but it's crazy how illogical some places can be (from my
perspective). In Jakarta all addresses are more or less useless since the
house/street numbers are in completely random order (the order they're built I
guess) so you have no idea where some building with some particular number
resides on a road/street relative to some other building.

Finally a tip to a fellow traveller, if you're asking for a taxi and give them
the address and the driver goes to the other drivers to ask about its location
the chances are he doesn't have a clue but he'll be very happy to take you for
random spin and ask you for money.

~~~
paulie_a
My hierarchy of travel is uber, hitchhiking, and then if I am absolutely
desperate taking a taxi.

