Google Maps just keeps getting better.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) just added a new feature called MyMaps where you can ad points, lines, and shapes to any map, add descriptions, and the best part, download your map into Google Earth.

Here are two I whipped up of the T and Future T, and one I found of canceled highways in Boston:

Current T (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&z=11&ll=42.322001,-71.121368&spn=0.386857,0.917358&om=1&msid=101230698274121090525.00000111de0f3d7031a24&msa=0)

Future T (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&om=1&z=11&ll=42.3352,-71.098709&spn=0.386776,0.917358&msid=101230698274121090525.00000111de2c8ac71f15e&msa=0)

Canceled Highways (http://www.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&q=boston,+ma&layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&msid=107473683068810985281.00000111d8c10d821a3b2&msa=0&z=10)

And here is one of unbuilt highways of New York City, not Boston but very impressive.
http://www.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&q=boston,+ma&layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&msid=107473683068810985281.00000111d8c10d821a3b2&msa=0&z=10

[LeTaureau]

Very cool. It was a good thing that I-695 was never built. It would have been awful.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Ok, so just when I think Google can't get any better...

When you are looking at the map (on Google Maps), look for the KML button on the top right. This will download the map into Google Earth where you can click on each line and actually "drive" each line by hitting the play button.

[TheBostonian]

This is very useful. I've been able to map out some important parts of an upcoming trip.

[statler]

Gizmodo.com
Google Maps Gets a Public Transit Layer (http://i.gizmodo.com/5131305/google-maps-gets-a-public-transit-layer)

Google Maps added a transit layer to its terrain and sat and road views today for viewing bus, train and ferry lines, etc. These 50 cities are supported:

The full list of cities is Belo Horizonte, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brasilia, Cairo, Capetown, Caracas, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dallas, Dortmund, Duisburg, D?sseldorf, Ekaterinburg, Essen, Frankfurt, Genoa, Guadalajara, Hamburg, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Kazan, K?ln, Lille, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Medellin, Mexico City, Melbourne, Monterrey, Montreal, Munich, Naples, Nizhniy Novgorod, Oslo, Paris, Perth, Portland, Porto, Porto Alegre, Prague, Pretoria, Recife, Rennes, Rio de Janeiro, Samara, San Francisco, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tunis, Vienna, Warsaw.

Odd selection of cities. :confused:

[vanshnookenraggen]

Seriously it's about time. But you are right, random cities.

[commuter guy]

This is very helpful. I've always wondered if there was a direct "one seat" ride from Ekaterinburg to Nizhniy Novgorod. Now I know the answer.

[jass]

Its just an extension of the google transit program.

It includes cities that were part of the program before, which gave google schedules so when you search for directions you could plan the trip via transit.

Considering the MBTA has a website that uses google maps, I dont understand why they havent opted in

[kennedy]

They're too caught up trying to avoid becoming a superagency.

[statler]

Physorg.com (http://www.physorg.com/news187419068.html)
Google adds bike lane with latest mapping feature
March 10, 2010

(AP) -- Google Inc. is adding a bike lane with its latest online mapping option.

The new bicycling directions available on Google Maps starting Wednesday supplement the guidance already provided to motorists and pedestrians. The biking directions initially will be available only for the United States.

Google spent the past six months tweaking its mapping service so it could recommend routes that would steer bicyclists away from big hills and heavily congested streets. The feature can be used to pinpoint bicycling trails in more than 150 cities.

Bike directions already have been available on some smaller Web sites, but Google is the first major Internet mapping service provider to add the option.

Google's mapping service already is the most popular in the U.S., with more than 55 million visitors in February, according to comScore. MapQuest, owned by AOL Inc., ranked second with more than 36 million visitors.

?2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Cool stuff Van. Where's the play button on Google Earth?