Help

Help and information for the byCycle.org bicycle trip planner.

Overview [ Top ]

The main purpose of the bicycle trip planner is to assist users in finding a bike route between two locations. In support of this, the trip planner has facilities to look up addresses by either 1) typing in the address or 2) choosing a point on the map and finding the closest intersection to it. After selecting from and to addresses, the user can query the system for a bikeable route between them.

Currently, the trip planner can look up routes for Portland, OR, and Milwaukee, WI.

Please let us know if you find that some useful information is missing from this page.

Browser Notes [ Top ]

You must have a relatively recent browser to use all of the features of the Trip Planner. We test in Mozilla Firefox on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows; Safari on Mac OS X; and Internet Explorer 7 on Windows 2000/XP. You may want to consider updating to the latest version of one of these browsers, not just to use all of the Trip Planner’s features, but also to take advantage of the interactive features found on many web sites and that are becoming more common on the Web.

The trip planner uses JavaScript to provide a more interactive user experience and is also necessary at this time to display the map. However, JavaScript is not required to get text results.

The browsers listed above are the most common ones in use, and because of our limited resources they are the only ones we can “officially” support at this time. If you don’t have one of the above browsers, you may want to leave JavaScript turned off. On the other hand, if you feel like experimenting, you can let us know if the Trip Planner does or does not work in other browsers. We would eventually like to support as many browsers as possible, and this information will help us determine where to focus our effort once we have the time and resources.

Address Formats [ Top ]

Postal

Example: 633 N Alberta

Intersection

Example: Alberta & Kerby

Point

Example: latitude=45.523127, longitude=-122.668104

In the case of a point address, the system attempts to find the intersection nearest the point. So, for example, if you double-click the map directly on the intersection of Alberta & Kerby and then click “Find address at center of map”, you should get the same result as typing in “Alberta & Kerby”.

Format Notes

Formally, the address formats are:

  • Postal: Number Prefix Name Type Suffix, City, State Zip Code
  • Intersection: Prefix Name Type Suffix & Prefix Name Type Suffix, City, State Zip Code
  • Point: x=Longitude, y=Latitude

Prefixes, Types, and Suffixes all can (but don’t have to) be abbreviated using the standard US Postal Service abbreviations.

The prefix, type, suffix, city, state, and/or zip code are all optional. However, you may want to specify at least some of those to help the system more quickly find the address you want. If you are getting multiple matches, try adding the street type (e.g., Rd) or zip code. If the system isn’t finding a match, try leaving out the street type or zip code.

When an address is entered, the program will attempt to find an exact match. If one can’t be found, a list of possibilities is returned. This is handy if you don’t know all the specific parts of an address (e.g., is it a street or avenue?). Here are some more examples with various parts missing:

  • 633 Alberta St — returns 2 matches
  • 633 Alberta — returns 2 matches
  • 633 N Alberta St — returns 1 match
  • 633 Alberta, 97217 — returns 1 match
  • N Alberta & Kerby, Portland — returns 1 match
  • Alberta & Kerby, Portland — returns 1 match
  • Alberta & Kerby — returns 1 match

Looking Up an Address [ Top ]

Example address lookup: 633 N Alberta

  • Type an address into the input field in the “Search Map” section of the input form.
  • Click the “Find” button.
  • Alternatively, click the “Find address at center of map” link in the map menu above the map. The system will automatically find the interesection nearest the red dot at the center of the map.
  • As a second alternative, click the red dot at the center of the map and click the “Find address of closest intersection” link. The system will automatically find the interesection nearest the red dot at the center of the map.
  • If multiple addresses match an address you typed, you will be presented with a list of those addresses. Use the “Show on Map” links to find the address you want; once you find it, click the associated “Select” link. The system will automatically continue–you don’t need to click the “Go!” button again.
  • If the system can’t find an address, make sure the address is typed correctly; the system can’t deal with spelling errors for the time being. If you’re sure the address is correct, contact us to let us know the system can’t find the address.

Finding a Route [ Top ]

Example route: 633 N Alberta St to 3029 SE 21st Ave

  • Type your from and to addresses into the input fields in the “Find Route” section of the input form.
  • Alternatively, for either or both fields, select a point on the map using the red dot, and then choose to set that point as the From or To address for your route.
  • Click the “Find Route” button.
  • If multiple addresses match an address you typed, you will be presented with a list of those addresses. Use the “Show on Map” links to find the address you want; once you find it, click the associated “Select” link. The system will automatically continue–you don’t need to click the “Go!” button again.
  • If the system can’t find an address, make sure the address is typed correctly; the system can’t deal with spelling errors for the time being. If you’re sure the address is correct, contact us to let us know the system can’t find the address.

How the “Best” Route is Found

The system takes into account various factors when determining the “best” route. Currently, the system provides only a default solution, which takes a “happy medium” approach to finding a route: it tries to use the regional bike network (for example, in Portland, Metro’s Bike There! map), stay on streets with less traffic, and avoid hills, all without going too far out of the way. Because of this attempt to satisfy various concerns, the system will sometimes choose less-than-optimal streets (hmmm… sounds familiar).

To address this problem, we have in the works a system to allow users to select a route preference–safer/faster/flatter/etc. The first version of this system will have only basic options. In a future release, we’d like to offer more advanced user options and the ability to save rider profiles.

Another issue with routing is the quality of the underlying data. Collecting and maintaining data on such a large scale is a huge job and requires constant vigilance and attention to stay up to date. If you find what looks like an inaccuracy in the data, please let us know about it, but please be aware that for the time being we don’t have the resources to easily make live changes to the data.

Map Notes [ Top ]

  • JavaScript must be enabled in your browser to view the interactive map and to use some of the interactive features. However, you should still be able to get text results without JavaScript.
  • A red dot always shows the center of the map. If the red dot ever disappears, any movement or change of the map will cause the red dot to reappear.
  • Double-clicking the map recenters the map at the location of the double click.
  • The map view can be changed by clicking anywhere in the map, holding down the mouse button, and moving the mouse (AKA, by “dragging” the map).
  • Clicking the “Find address at center of map” link in the map menu above the map will automatically find the intersection closest to the red dot at the center of the map.
  • You can also click the red dot and the click the “” link to do the same thing or to set the point at the center of the map as your From or To address for a route.
  • Routing and geocoding (address lookup) are performed by the Trip Planner using our data (roughly indicated by the blue rectangles on the map); the Google Map is used for display purposes only.
  • Not all of the area inside the blue rectangles is covered by our data. The blue rectangles are only a rough indication of the area covered for each region.