FixMyTransport.com Beta

FixMyTransport.com Beta


Clean Mapping Interface to report problems with your routes (bus, train,tram/metro ferry)



FixMyTransport was built to help people get common public transport problems resolved. It is targeted specifically at smaller problems such as persistently broken ticket machines, buses that always leave early, or silly rules that appear to do nothing but create inconvenience for travellers.

What is it all about?
At a basic level, FixMyTransport makes it easy for people to send problem reports to the companies or authorities responsible for those problems.

However, we know that simply sending an email often won't be enough to get a problem resolved. That's why we've built a complete system to make it easy to gather support other people, whether fellow commuters, colleagues or friends. We believe that this is worth doing because a transport company that doesn't respond to one person may very well respond to ten.

We hope that FixMyTransport will also help people by becoming part of the wider internet community of transport activists and campaigners. In particular, we hope that that community comes to see FixMyTransport as a place where experts and old hands can transfer their skills to people who have little or no experience of lobbying for change.

As well as being aimed at helping people to solve transport problems, FixMyTransport represents an experiment to discover whether a sufficiently well designed internet service can help tip people over the edge from grumbling about a problem to taking action to resolve it. We welcome your thoughts on how to measure whether or not we're succeeding.

Created by http://www.mysociety.org/

FixMyTransport.com Beta (with map interface openlayers/googlemaps)
http://www.fixmytransport.com/

Google Maps World Weather

Google Maps World Weather


Work in°C | °F or km/h | mph | m/s with the additional option to overlay clouds

Works well.

http://maps.google.com/maps?lci=weather

Video Introduction



source:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/rain-or-shine-see-weather-in-google.html

Met Office - Storm Tracker Beta

Met Office - Storm Tracker Beta



The Met Office has created a new Google Maps Flash Map to monitor and forecast tropical storms around the world.

There are two versions of this map - Free and Premium (Paid For)

Free Version
· 1 x forecast weather layer (UK deterministic 5 day storm track)
· 1 x observed track
· 3 x latest weather layers:
· cloud (IR and Visible satellite)
· sea surface temperatures
· Thousands of historic storms (HURDAT data from 1850 until the present).

Advanced version (paid for service)
Additional premium content for an advanced service is available at a subscription rate.
The advanced service includes access to all the above, plus:
· Probabilistic forecasts of storms and weather – so a range of possible scenarios
can be understood
· Met Office 15 day ensemble forecast storm tracks; and equivalent data from
European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) and USA’s
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
· Multi-model combinations of these leading models

· Additional forecasts for storms, including strike probabilities, forming storms, and
ensemble mean storm tracks
· A utilities layer showing district boundaries for the Gulf of Mexico
Access to these features enables users to build a far more complete picture

Users require to have an account (even for the free version) worldwide cloud conditions and the locations of current cyclones. If you select a cyclone on the map you can view the cyclone's observed track and wind speeds recorded along the track.

As well as viewing current tropical storm conditions it is also possible to view historical storm information. For example you can view the track of the 2009 Hurricane Bill.





Storm Tracker Worldwide Map by the UK Met Office.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/premium/stormtracker/
(sign up and login required to view both free and premium)

Source:
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2011/07/worldwide-tropical-storm-tracker.html

3D Buildings - Google Maps Expands Coverage

3D Buildings - Google Maps Expands Coverage

Only 2.5D on the Google Maps sites (transparency induced)

But becomes true 3D on the Mobile device:


3D London and Paris on the Google Maps Mobile - gives users a more realistic sense of location and bearing.

Now, 3D buildings are available in London, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Singapore, Lisbon, Boulder, and 11 major cities in South Africa. These buildings will appear in both Google Maps and Google Maps for mobile.

Sources:
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2011/07/building-outlines-in-more-cities.html
More Info:
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/07/building-outlines-now-appearing-in.html

Historypin Worldwide Launched

Historypin WorldWide Launched



The Successfully UK London Launch in 2010 has now expanded worldwide.

Last year Historypin was beta in London. The historical photographs overlayed on Google Maps StreetView become very popular. Now officially launched with a new mobile applications and worldwide coverage.

"Historypin is a way for millions of people to come together, from across different generations, cultures and places, to share small glimpses of the past and to build up the huge story of human history.

Everyone has history to share: whether its sitting in yellowed albums in the attic, collected in piles of crackly tapes, conserved in the 1000s of archives all over the world or passed down in memories and old stories.

Each of these pieces of history finds a home on Historypin, where everyone has the chance to see it, add to it, learn from it, debate it and use it to build up a more complete understanding of the world."

http://www.historypin.com/

Source
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2011/07/historypin-goes-global.html

Offline Routing comes to Google Maps Navigation

Offline Routing comes to Google Maps
Offline reliability New!

Get continuous guidance and automatic rerouting, even if you lose your network connection after you’ve begun a route.

Nokia (aka was Ovi Maps) did have this advantage now seems to be a key part of Google Maps Navigation.

This is important when traveling quickly through areas without mobile/cell coverage. The Route can be changed and no need to connect to internet to adjust your

With Google Maps Navigation the entire data is stored on the device (in vector) form.


What is next for Google Maps - Offline Routing - 2.5D Buildings (example from Google Tablet above).
Offline Streetview (unlikely do to the amount of storage required).
Live Ads (very likely)
Real-Time [Connected to Mobile/Cell Network] - Weather - Google did for a short while introduce Weather.
Custom Overlay - most likely of them all - providing the format and files sizes are quick enough to download.


Link to Google Maps Navigation
http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/index.html
(see halfway down about Offline Routing)


Source:
http://www.robotbriefs.com/news/2011/6/14/google-maps-confirmed-to-get-offline-re-routing.html

Search - Google Maps Sneek Peek

Search - Google Maps Sneek Peek
*Google are testing and this may not be available to all web users...

Highlight the map area of interest by search.

Useful for Countries, Administrative, City Limits and even Islands.

Great for people who are looking but don't necessarily now the shape or administrative regions Zipcodes in the US, Postal Codes in Canada (but not UK postcode sectors).


Google are testing a highlighting method for the users search

London (Westminster London) is automatically highlight when users do a search on google.com

sources:
http://searchengineland.com/google-adds-zip-code-outlines-to-map-one-box-77733
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-maps-onebox-outlines.html

Crime Maps England & Wales

Crime Maps England & Wales

Recorded crime in England and Wales on Google Maps - find what crimes have been committed in their neighbourhoods.

The map shows crime mapped to "an anonymous point on or near the road where they occurred." NOTE: Individual addresses are not pinpointed on the map.

To search for crime in an area users can enter a postcode or an address. The map will then display the crimes committed in a radius of the submitted location. The maps include a pretty neat marker clustering system and the number of crimes are also broken down by category.

Crime Maps for England and Wales - to Street Level - Search by postcode, town name or street.

Example:
http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Oxford,%20Oxfordshire,%20UK#streets

Built on the API - http://www.police.uk/api/docs/

Source:
Google Maps Mania
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2011/01/uk-launches-national-crime-map.html

Interesting related post on the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/02/uk-crime-maps-developers-unhappy

Google Maps Canada Bike Directions Rolling Out

Google Maps Canada Bike Directions Rolling Out
updated 2nd December 2010




Rolling out across Canada is bike directions and routes, an announcement due soon. But here is a screenshot of the new tiles:
http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.38109,-75.629883&spn=0.951063,2.469177&z=9&lci=bike

Other cities included:

• Gatineau
• Toronto
• Edmonton
• Vancouver
• Calgary
• Winnipeg
• Kelowna
• Waterloo

This now fully rolled out
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/12/gearing-up-biking-directions-added-to.html
Source: http://technology.canoe.ca/2010/11/22/16264421.html

Tour de France 2010 Maps

Tour de France 2010 Maps

"A collection of Tour de France Maps for 2010"

The Cycling event starts on 3rd July 2010 and you view some impressive mapping applications. Some will be 'live' during the event.

The 97th annual Tour de France begins on July 3rd in Rotterdam (Prologue Stage), Netherlands and will span 23 riding days en route to the finish on July 25th in Paris, France. Along the 20 Stages coveraging 3,642 km route in total
Official Tour de France 2010 Maps - surprisingly static but clear and concise
http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/COURSE/us/le_parcours.html [Overview Map]
Stages start (with links to other stages)
http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/COURSE/us/0/etape_par_etape.html
Also available via the Yahoo Portal
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/cycling/tour-de-france/map.html

Bing Maps App -Tour De France 2010

Bing Maps includes elevation gain, slope (-/+%) with an interactive profile chart linked to the map route of each stage.

The 2010 Tour de France map app:

This app is designed to help you visualise the overall race, the stages (stages tab + numbers) and how variables such as weather & elevation (elevation profiles) will impact each stage. Results will be updated along the way in the 'Results' tab.

Check the content in the 'Stages' and 'Results' tabs as you keep track of the greatest cycling race in the world.

http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/#5003/0.60041=/5872/style=be&lat=r4hhm9&lon=h0bqb4&alt=1983.162592&z=13&h=180&pid=5874

Live Tracker of The Tour de France 2010 by Ubilabs

This mapping site is consistent every year in providing live racing information on the race.
This year comes with twitter integration and facts and stats (when live racing is on).
http://www.ubilabs.net/tourdefrance/

Cycling News

Cycling News has produce a quick and easy map to all the stages using Google Maps API.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/97th-tour-de-france-gt/race-maps

Found more Tour De France Maps - add a comment - look out for updates...

Google Maps API Styled Map Wizard

Google Maps API Styled Map Wizard
*change Google Maps to suit your website colours and style.

Google Maps are instantly familiar by users interface the familiar look and feel of Google maps on any web site. All that can now change thanks to the Google Maps API v3 Style Wizard.


Make really bad colours if you want



or something slightly more cartographically acceptable.

Use this http://gmaps-samples-v3.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/styledmaps/wizard/index.html
If you want your map to stand out from the crowd, your options are limited to customizing the markers and controls, and if your brand has a particular colour scheme that is reflected on your site, Google Maps may not sit well with it.

"You are now free to unleash your creativity on the base Google map itself, as we are delighted to launch Styled Maps in the Google Maps API v3."

Styled Maps offers you control over both the types of features shown on your maps, and the colour scheme used to represent them. The possibilities are endless....

See more Examples here:
http://maps-api-tt.appspot.com/apilite/styled/styled.html

Source:
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2010/05/add-style-to-your-google-maps.html
Official Post:
http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2010/05/add-touch-of-style-to-your-maps.html

New Google Maps domains in 29 African Countries

New Google Maps domains in 29 African Countries
Example Ghana Google Maps - http://maps.google.com.gh/ in Beta

Google Maps users can now find local businesses, towns, highways, or roads. This could be a burger place in Lagos, a garage in Kampala, a hairdresser in Accra or an airport shuttle in Dakar. Any business anywhere can add their own business listing for free via the Google Maps Local Business Centre.

South Africa gets its own mobile site - http://www.google.com/intl/en_za/mobile/

The active list so far: 18 of 29...

http://maps.google.co.ke/ Kenya
http://maps.google.com.na/ Nambia
http://maps.google.com.ng/ Nigeria
http://maps.google.com.et/ Ethiopia
http://maps.google.com.sl/ Sierra Leone
http://maps.google.cg/ Congo, Republic of,
http://maps.google.ci/Côte d'Ivoire
http://maps.google.dj/ Djibouti
http://maps.google.ga/ Gabon
http://maps.google.gm/ The Gambia
http://maps.google.com.gh/ Ghana
http://maps.google.mw/ Malawi
http://maps.google.sn/ Senegal
http://maps.google.co.mz/ Mozambique
http://maps.google.co.bw/ Botswana
http://maps.google.co.tz/ Tanzania
http://maps.google.co.zm/ Zambia
http://maps.google.co.zw/ Zimbabwe

Source:
http://google-africa.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-maps-domains-in-29-african.html

Google Maps API Geocoder now uses the Localised versions
Example Ghana (Major Roads, MapMaker Additions)
Please use the Google Spreadsheet for more countries covered.
http://gmaps-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/mapcoverage_filtered.html

@Mapperz

Google Maps Gets Beta Labs

Google Maps Gets Beta Labs
*Google Account signin required
Google Map has now enabled Google Labs experiments that you can now add some nice and useful functionality.


A new prespective - Note the Map Labels (Text) are correct way up but the map is upsidedown.



New Features and Tools in Google Maps via Google Maps Labs - Rotate Map Types (Sat

Google Labs experiments that you can now add the following functionality:

Drag 'n' Zoom
Zooming in on a specific part of the map is now fast and easy. Simply click the Drag 'n' Zoom button, draw a box on the map.



New Button for Drag Zoom - Useful!

Click on the Green beaker New! to access the new features (simliar to gmail labs)

The Options are as follows
Aerial Imagery (Includes Rotate)
Add Aerial imagery to the map! Aerial imagery gives you rotatable, high-resolution overhead imagery presented in a new perspective. Currently imagery is only available in certain areas, but we're adding more all the time.

Back to Beta
Gmail isn't the only one that can enjoy a BETA tag.

Where in the World Game
Test your knowledge of world geography. Guess the name of the country from satellite imagery, and try to beat your top score.

Rotatable Maps
Tired of North always being up? Add rotatable map types and give East, West and South a fair go.

What's Around Here?
Adds a second search button that searches for "*", returning the top results in the current view. A great way to browse the map.

LatLng Tooltip
Displays a tooltip next to the mouse cursor showing the latlng directly underneath it.

LatLng Marker
Adds an option to the context menu that lets you drop a mini marker showing the latlng of the position that the cursor was pointing at when the context menu was evoked.

Smart Zoom
Ever zoom in too far and get the message "We don't have imagery at this zoom level"? Ensure you don't see it again, with Smart Zoom, which will check in advance what imagery exists, and ensure you can't zoom in beyond it.

source:
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2010-02-12-n86.html
Related
http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2010/02/google-maps-in-google-labs.html
Official Post
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-maps-labs-your.html

PublicEarth 'Wiki for Places'

PublicEarth 'Wiki for Places'

PublicEarth is a'wikipedia for places' that can be extended by users. Using Google Maps to display 'crowdsourced' Points of Interest [POI] locations.
Guests can view the data in a read-only format whereas registered users rate places,create collections and can personalise their suggestions.


Clean, Fast Public Earth Points of Interests [POI] Layers.

example:
http://www.publicearth.com/explore/2c51606a-c99f-11de-addb-00163e75a173?swx=-1.5652084350585938&swy=50.844538088124565&nex=-1.2411117553710938&ney=50.96534632163772#page=0


PublicEarth has currently 4 million + POI's and rising, all grouped into a number of categories. PublicEarth has over 450 categories, these include the usual categories such as restaurants and entertainment but also more unusual topics.

Full List of Catergories
http://www.publicearth.com/categories/browse
include
Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Recreation & the Outdoors
Shopping
Community Essentials
Places to Stay
Food & Drink.

Some different catergories to the norm.
Fossil Sites, Kiteboarding Locations, Public Rooftops, Shipwrecks, Sundials, Street Art

The site allows the user to plan a trip or a day out and then send the saved locations to a GPS device, a mobile phone or e-mail them to friends. PublicEarth also lets you display your saved places on your own website or blog by creating and embedding a widget.

The site even comes with an API that allows developers to access PublicEarth's huge database of recommendations.

Google Building Maker - New!

Google Building Maker - New!

Contributors will be able to help creat buildings for over 50 cities.
(likely to expand in the future)


"We [Google] like to think of Building Maker as a cross between Google Maps and a gigantic bin of building blocks. Basically, you pick a building and construct a model of it using aerial photos and simple 3D shapes – both of which we provide. When you're done, we take a look at your model. If it looks right, and if a better model doesn't already exist, we add it to the 3D Buildings layer in Google Earth. You can make a whole building in a few minutes."


The YouTube Video shows how fast it is to add/contribute your own buildings, Google will check them and when verified they will acknowledge your work.
Building Maker in Cardiff - with simple tools to create buildings

Requirements before you can contribute:

• Building Maker is an online tool, and it runs entirely in your web browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc.)
• Before you can add a building to Google Earth, you need to sign in to your Google Account (so you get credit for what you contribute).
• Models you create with Building Maker "live" in the Google 3D Warehouse (a giant, online repository of 3D models).
• You can use Google SketchUp (the free, general-purpose 3D modeling tool) to edit or otherwise modify anything you make with Building Maker.
• Make sure you have the latest version of Google Earth installed on your computer.
• If using an Apple Mac, you need to download the Google Earth plug-in directly.

Google Building Maker
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwh/buildingmaker.html

source:
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-google-building-maker.html

Google Web Elements - Google Maps

Google Web Elements - Google Maps

Very simple, very quick to publish maps with your location. No need to write code.


Simply add your location (it checks location can be found) - then select map type and size - code is copied and pasted into your own site.

"Web Elements allows your customers to enhance their websites with the ease of cut-and-paste. Webmasters can provide maps, real-time news, calendars, presentations, spreadsheets and YouTube videos on their sites. With the Conversation Element, websites can create more engagement with their communities. The Custom Search Element provides inline search over your own site (or others you specify) without having to write any code"



A simple slippy (interactive map) with out writing any code....

More Google Web Elements
http://www.google.com/webelements/
http://www.google.com/webelements/maps/

for more advanced features (multiple locations)

http://maps.google.com/help/maps/getmaps/quick.html

Source:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-tools-for-google-services-for.html

Live Traffic Reports Google Maps (Los Angeles)

Live Traffic Reports Google Maps (Los Angeles)

"The Los Angeles region is widely known for its extreme traffic, and a study released just this week by the Texas Transportation Institute reports that LA has the most significant congestion in the United States. It goes on to estimate that commuters in LA spent 485 million hours idling in traffic, wasting 367 million gallons of gas."
(hint: have a smaller engine or get on a bus)


Go to Google Maps (in Los Angeles) and hit Traffic and you get real-time incidents mapped.
A click-able icons and informative data to help advise on an alternative route.


The LatLng Blog Highlights the Los Angeles Traffic and Transit issues

"However, Los Angeles also has an extensive public transit network, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), and today we're excited to introduce them as the newest addition to Google Transit. Metro operates 5 rail lines and nearly 200 bus lines within Los Angeles County, logging an average of 1.5 million weekday boardings."

"As a part of Google Transit, Metro's itineraries will now appear as an alternative with the "Public Transit" link when a user searches for driving directions within their service area to remind commuters of the availability of public transit. Turning on the Traffic layer in Google Maps to get an idea of what congestion awaits may provide even more motivation to try take advantage of Metro!"
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/07/take-ride-with-la-metro-in-google.html
(and source)

How useful is this?
Well being real-time and accurate it seems to work extremely well. If only all cities made this data available then the amount of fuel consumption and wasted hours in traffic could be reduced.
Well done Google and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for making it available for the public.

Enjoy England Maps

Enjoy England Maps

"You can now select a destination by clicking on a map icon and then clicking on the destination link for information about that area or using the Select a county from this list drop-down menu."


Enjoy England are now using Google maps to enhance their site. This helps users identify attractions near where they choose to visit.

England by Region:

• South West
  
• South East
• London
• Heart of England
• East Midlands
• North East England
• North West England
• Yorkshire
  

The 'Show Only' options allows filtering of information that your interested. Another useful feature is the currency converter for international users.

Related - http://www.england-rocks.co.uk/
from Maps - http://www.england-rocks.co.uk/index2.php

Previous post - http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2007/02/england-rocks-map.html

Brand New Google Maps API v3

Brand New Google Maps API v3 (in Labs)

Just released... and its even faster....lots of code changes...

"Welcome to the release of version 3 of the Google Maps API. This JavaScript API will look similar to the existing version 2 of the Google Maps API. However, much has changed under the hood: Version 3 (called V3 within this document) has been designed to load fast, especially on mobile browsers such as Android-based devices and the iPhone™. The initial launch has a smaller feature set than that available in the V2 API. We will migrate additional features from V2 while working to keep the size of the JavaScript code small and maintain our optimized loading speeds. We welcome your feedback and comments on this version of the Google Maps API within the Google Maps API V3 discussion group."

Major Changes:

• No API keys required! so can embed in RSS readers

• Geocoding API has been overhauled!

• Model–view–controller (MVC) based - so faster downloading javascript!

• New API Group (V3)

example of code changes:

function initialize() {
var myOptions = {
zoom: 4,
center: new google.maps.LatLng(-33, 151),
navigationControl = false,
scaleControl: true,
mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
}
var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map_canvas"),
                             myOptions);

More Information:
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/v3/
Official Blog Post:
http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2009/05/announcing-google-maps-api-v3.html

StreetVi (Alpha)

StreetVi (Alpha)

Find what is nearby?

Mixing StreetView, Birds Eye View and Google Maps with places Nearby.

Features:

• Easy jump to city Street View
• View the city from a bird's eye view (live search Bird's eye. if it's exists in the city)
• Easy adding favourite places in the city.
• Adding comments to a place
• Wikipedia places (if not in your language link to translate google)
• Photos nearby current location (panoramio)
• Videos nearby current location (youtube)
• Creation of thematic groups (for tours, for example "Best places of London", etc).
• International project. Reviews in other languages translated via google translate.

Thanks to the creator Denis Lobachev.

Site: http://www.streetvi.com (in Alpha)

Mapperz