Letters to the business editor
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
BIKE GUIDE

Hidden in the bowels of the business section on Sunday July 27 was an AP story titled “Tech Test: Bikers, Pedestrians Seeking Better Web Maps.”

In it the author does a great job describing how programmers and commuters in other cities are finding better bicycle and pedestrian routes to use in place of their cars.

But the Post-Gazette missed a golden opportunity to inform its readers about the tremendous online map that the Bike Pittsburgh organization recently completed. The online map, available at www.bike-pgh.org, allows the user to view recommended routes in green and cautionary routes in blue, all overlaying the familiar Google map of our fair city.

The online map also allows users to customize the map to identify landmarks, bike shops and more. The map was developed by cyclists to point out more bicycle-friendly, but possibly lesser-known, routes that improve safety and in many cases save time.

The online bicycle map is another example of a Pittsburgh treasure that many people probably do not know about.

BRIAN STAGNO,
Bloomfield