Association Gives Winnipeg’s Bike Trails Their Close-Up on Google Maps

Technically, Winnipeg’s bike trails aren’t “streets,” but they’re getting the Google Street View treatment anyway—with an association’s help.

The Winnipeg Trails Association  (opens in a new tab) has been working on a 360-degree mapping of the city’s many bike trails to give pedalers an accurate view of its biking landscape. WTA is using Google Street View Trekker, a specialized camera for capturing natural elements, to map the trails.

That puts WTA in some interesting company. The Trekker tool was first used on the Grand Canyon  (opens in a new tab) and has since been used at the Pyramids of Giza  (opens in a new tab) in Egypt, the Mount Everest Base Camp  (opens in a new tab) in Nepal, and numerous other fascinating locations  (opens in a new tab).

WTA is using a Trekker camera attached to a recumbent bicycle and plans to capture every bike trail in the city, said Marina Herscovitch, a trails analyst for the association, in comments to CBC News  (opens in a new tab).

Gorgeous day out here in #ambertrails  (opens in a new tab) ! #Kildonanpark  (opens in a new tab), I’m coming for you next! @WinnipegTrails  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/GfRAd7tRsT  (opens in a new tab)

— Marina Herscovitch (@MarinaHersky) August 7, 2017  (opens in a new tab)

“They wanted to focus on the major bike trails in Winnipeg, but we thought it was best we get as much as we can,” she said. “I suppose people don’t realize how big Winnipeg has become.”

According to Canadian Cycling Magazine  (opens in a new tab), WTA is relying on a dozen volunteers to capture the city’s bike trails in 10-hour shifts before it has to return the camera to Google on August 17.

The 360-degree views are expected to show up on Google Maps sometime in the next year.

(via WTA’s Twitter account)