Viva la via!

Posted by Ryan Sturgell, Software Engineer

A few months ago we added a simple and fun way to interactively modify the directions created by Google Maps. You can drag the endpoints of your route to change where the route starts or stops. You can also drag the route itself to modify how you get to your destination. Perfect, right? Well, almost. Our users have told us that, while they love dragging their routes to use the roads they want, they don't like that we add a new destination at the spot they dragged: I want to go via the I-90 bridge, not stop on it! We wouldn't want to either. So we've tweaked this feature by adding a "via" point to the spot where you dragged, rather than a whole new destination:



This also improves our directions: No longer will we suggest you stop on the bridge during your trip. Viva la via!

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Google Maps comes to Switzerland

Posted by Giorgio Scherl, Product Manager Google Maps, Switzerland

Falling in love with Switzerland just got even easier. Those romantic lakeside hotels, world-famous chocolate shops, and winding roads through the Alps can now be discovered using Google Maps for Switzerland. The all-new Maps service, developed right here in Zurich, will help people in Switzerland find and enjoy the businesses and services around them. It also includes easy-to-use driving directions and trip-planning public transport information. We worked with Swiss content providers, ranging from Swiss doctors to the Public Transit Authority, to provide a comprehensive one-stop-shop of local information. The same information can also be accessed from Google Earth.

So whether you're taking public transportation in Zurich, planning a family ski trip, or looking for a special place to stay in Geneva, Google Maps can help.

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Google Transit trip planning in Europe

Posted by Christoph Oehler, Product Manager

We are very happy to announce the launch of Google Transit trip planner in Europe. For quite some time, Google Maps has featured transit stop icons with helpful information like lines serving a station and next departures for many cities. But now you can plan your entire journey using public transportation! So far we have information for the following places and transport companies:

- Traveline South East, UK
- SBB, Switzerland (train, ferries and long distance bus coverage)
- VBZ, Zurich, Switzerland
- Turin, Italy
- Florence, Italy

Try it yourself: type your start and end address in the "get directions" boxes. The default results are driving directions, but in the areas that we have transit routing coverage, you can simply click on the "Take Public Transit" link.

We believe this is an important step in encouraging people to use public transit. We're hoping folks will decide to leave the car at home if they can easily discover a transit stop next to a business as they're searching for it, or if they realise it's easy to take a train as they plot their journey from point A to point B. We're always looking to improve our coverage and work with more partners -- we'll keep you posted as more places and transport companies are added.

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Architect ideas with Project Spectrum

Posted by Tom Wyman, Market Development Manager

It's always incredible to witness even the youngest children mastering sophisticated web applications at lightning speed. Not long ago, I was wowed to learn that many children with autism have proven to be particularly adept at creating 3D models using Google SketchUp. Last week on the Official Google SketchUp Blog, we announced the creation of Project Spectrum, a program dedicated to connecting the autistic community with free software and learning materials.

Project Spectrum was dreamed up by the Google SketchUp team in partnership with the Boulder, Colorado chapter of the Autism Society of America, the Boulder Valley School District, and the Center for Lifelong Learning and Design at University of Colorado. By connecting children with SketchUp tools and the know-how to use them, Project Spectrum makes it possible for kids with special abilities to create 3D models of anything from actual existing buildings to imagined dream homes. They can even show off their work in the 3D Warehouse, an online repository of 3D models in which users can publish the models they've created, as well as search and download models built by others. And what's even cooler, the best models in the 3D Warehouse are added to the 3D Buildings layer in Google Earth, giving every child the opportunity to share their hard work with the whole world!

The creators of Project Spectrum have put together a very cool video to showcase ways in which children with autism can take advantage of SketchUp. Check it out:





It's especially inspiring to learn about Project Spectrum's launch right in the middle of Geography Awareness Week. We hope people continue using our products in such fun, educational ways. If you are an educator who would like to use Google SketchUp in the classroom, please visit our SketchUp for Education page.

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Geography Awareness Week

Posted by Cathy Tang, Project Lead

Which country is home to the world's oldest lake? Where is harissa (a porridge-like soup made from stewed chicken or lamb and coarsely ground soaked wheat) a national dish?

As you may have guessed, each of these questions is related to Asia. We've teamed up with My Wonderful World, a National Geographic-led campaign for geographic literacy, to give students, parents and geography enthusiasts a look at "Asia: Continent of Contrasts" during Geography Awareness Week. Held annually during the third week of November, Geography Awareness Week is an initiative to create awareness of the people, places and diversity of a specific world region.

Check out My Wonderful World's tours of Asia in Google Earth, featuring photos, videos and interesting tidbits about Asia -- its natural wonders, wildlife, art, cuisine and more. You can also test your knowledge with the "Ultimate Asia Challenge." Within these layers you'll find answers to the questions above and many more.



Geography Awareness Week offers a great example of how Google Earth and other online applications can be used in the classroom to make learning more interactive and visual, whether your subject matter is Asia, astronomy or algae. Each day this week, we'll be posting other examples of how mapping tools can make a difference in the classroom.

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Map of the Day: San Francisco Bay Oil Spill

Posted by James DeBoer, Software Engineer, Google Maps

Google Maps' map-making tools are often used by news agencies to report stories as they happen. This past week's oil spill in the San Francisco Bay is a good example. The San Francisco Chronicle's map provides numerous pictures of the slick and cleanup. The KCBS map also shows areas affected and roughly how far the oil has travelled.

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Transit routing up north

Posted by Joe Hughes, Software Engineer

I'm happy to announce we've added directions for Vancouver's TransLink buses, trains, and ferries to Google Maps. Now, any time you search for directions in the Lower Mainland using Google Maps, you'll see a "Take Public Transit" link above the driving directions. If you click on it, you'll see a few ways that you can get to your destination using a combination of buses, SkyTrain, SeaBus, and West Coast Express. For example, here's a route from Pacific Central Station to Lonsdale Quay:



Since Vancouver is our first Google Transit city in Canada, I made a special trip to meet with TransLink folks and local transit advocates last week. TransLink has big goals for reducing carbon emissions in the region while helping residents and visitors get around (especially during the 2010 winter Olympics), so we're happy to help them reach a broader audience through Google Maps. By sharing their schedule information with us in GTFS format, TransLink will also able to make their route information more accessible to non-English speakers and the visually impaired (Google Maps is available in many languages as well as in a plain HTML version that works with screen readers).

This is another exciting step for us, but our work is far from done. We'll keep you posted on our progress as we continue to work with more transit agencies to bring their routes to Google Maps.

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