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Google Maps Maker helps Detroit go green with detailed biking trail maps [Video]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AuOoR5-qvw&feature=player_embedded]

Google Maps is apparently a huge fan of biking.

We detailed how Sustrans partnered with Google to bring cycling routes to United Kingdom-based Google Maps users in July, and now the Internet giant wants folks to know how its free mapping tool helped Detroit Greenways Coordinator Todd Scott add new information about biking paths to various Detroit trails on Google Maps.

Detroit is embracing a greener outlook, according to Map Maker Community Manager Lori Savageau on the official Google blog, and the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance is aiding the transition by creating an “interconnected statewide system of trails and greenways, including the development of bike paths throughout the Detroit area.”

Scott is specifically using Google Maps Maker to add new bike paths with improved accuracy and biking directions and to plot the quickest routes in town on Google Maps. Anyone can take advantage of Google Maps Maker to improve their local trails, however, by inputting additional information like trail names, surface types, bicycle suitability, etc.

“It goes beyond map making. It’s a way to take back your neighborhood,” said Scott to Google, while explaining how a more detailed map for local cyclists is just one aspect of his goal.

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