The online version of the Innertube map launched today. There are the usual teething problems, but the end result is pretty sweet.

Anyone can post comments to the blog, including photos, videos and audio. The idea is to create a comprehensive online resource for cycling and other community related issues and ideas in Edinburgh.

Check it out – Innertube Map

I’ve said it before, but the whole concept of the map is fundamentally flawed.

The Spokes map is much superior as it shows real distances and also how the various tracks can be joined.

What’s the point?

I like it and think its good! Its clean and easy to understand, shows the links there are, and equally importantly shows the gaps in the off road network.

It would be good to link it to the Edinburgh Core Paths Plan. I did the mapping for this a few years ago but its all in pdf and paper form and never made it online.

Some representation on the ground would also be good. I don’t think that core paths have ever been signposted, which is kind of crazy given the amount of work we put into developing the network. If at each ‘stop’ on your network there was a sign on the path with the ‘stop’ name that would be a good navigational aid, as from memory some of those cycle paths are a bit away from the streets. Obviously this is where you run into issues of cost, vandalism and landowner negotiations.

Good work.

In a way it’s nice to get an overview of roughly where the paths go with out regard to the road system but even though it’s nicely excecuted it’s quite a limited device.

The Spokes map is far more useful and I think I’ve seen other online maps for Edinburgh (linked through the Edinburgh City cycling blog) that do a better job in terms of annotations too.

First time I picked up one of the wee printed innertube maps I thought that the idea was to show how big the gaps between the bits of traffic free infrastructure are and to point out generally how limited the network in the city is. A few lapsed/non-cyclists at work got excited about them, so that’s at least one good thing to come out of the investment. The printed one is pretty good but I’m not convinced by the online version yet.

Think that’s exceptional tbh, really nice piece of work.

I’m almost motivated to go and cycle round the Gyle just so I’ve done all the lines.

I think it will be really interesting to see how the online map and blog develop over the next few months. One of the key aims of the project is to get people to engage with the issues that go hand in hand with cycling in a city, and hopefully to encourage people onto their bikes.

The Spokes map is excellent, and being a true map, rather than a conceptual map, is a more accurate guide. But would it appeal to debaser’s lapsed/non-cyclist work colleagues.

bigjim – what are the Edinburgh Core Paths? Are they still available?

As someone who enjoys reading maps, I find that really frustrating to read. To me anyway, there’s no context to where any of these places are, so as a navigational aid it’s almost useless.

However, as dair mentions, it is probably much better as a way of distributing news and issues about particular areas of the network which you happen to use, although I have a feeling that if it becomes popular that it could get overwhelmed with rubbish or out-of-date posts. But that’s my cynical hat on, and for all the effort obviously poured it, I hope it’s a success for the creators.

Thanks, Kit. Time will tell!

As a lawyer, I am hardwired to be cynical, so I struggle to dismiss the above negative comments out of hand, because I have had them all myself at one point or another!

I think it’s worth remembering that the creators of and driving force behind this project are the guys at the Bike Station. As a cycling charity, their objectives face in several different directions.

The core paths plan was a requirement of the Land reform Act. The consultancy I work for produced it for CEC and I made the maps for it. It is a strange one really as it has been such a massive undertaking for all local authorities, but, in Edinburgh at least, there is nothing on the ground to say ‘core path’ as far as I know, so there is essentially no direct benefit to everyday path users. There are implications to do with planning and council development plans however which is a good thing.

If you look at the local authorities with extensive rural areas such as Fife and highland, you can see the massive amount of time and effort that has been required by core paths plans – in Edinburgh we were relatively lucky in that we had a comparatively small area and path network to assess.

There isn’t a decent resolution version online, the plan and overview map are at this url but the pdfs have been compressed so much that the maps are totally useless, and there is a font missing from the overview map pdf. Which is quite annoying.

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/495/parks_gardens_and_open_spaces/1251/accessing_our_parks_and_greenspaces/3

I was impressed by the Edinburgh CycleStreets Journey Planner. It gives you alternative routes choices so you can pick a faster or quieter journey, and detailed mapping with a turn-by-turn route description.

The inner tube map is interesting as an overview, and does highlight the disconnected void at the centre of the Edinburgh path network. However, I’m not sure it is very useful as a tool for actually finding your way about.

The London tube map works because the stations are clearly sign posted, and once you have entered the system, your journey is effectively abstracted from the actual twists and turns of the rail lines; all you have to do is change at the right places, and eventually you will pop out at your destination. To use the cycle paths, you actually have to navigate your way around the network, and the various entry points, junctions and transitions are not always obvious. For this reason, I don’t think an abstract schematic is very useful for actually planning a cycling journey. This seems to be acknowledged in the map itself, which references the Spokes maps for further details.

I guess it does work as a bit of a talking point and a consciousness raiser for people that may not currently be cycling, which is good.

Visual representation of a wee pun. Nice marketing exercise but crappy map

The CycleStreets Journey Planner is an excellent tool.

So I guess the Innertube map will only really work as a true map if there is good signage on each route, clearly marking each stop in correlation with the map? Is that fair?

yes the cyclestreets is a great thing.

I don’t think the innertube map will ever be usable as a navigational aid unless there is corresponding signage on the ground, which would be very expensive and complicated to acheive. But i doubt it was ever supposed to be, in the same way that the london underground map isn’t a navigational map – its purpose is to inform locations you can go to on each ‘line’ in a simple understandable overview at-a-glance manner, which is what the innertube map does too.

A lot of people look at normal maps and are bewildered (lines and lines and lines!) so the simpicity of the inntertubes map is a good thing.

The London tube map works because the stations are clearly sign posted, and once you have entered the system, your journey is effectively abstracted from the actual twists and turns of the rail lines; all you have to do is change at the right places, and eventually you will pop out at your destination.

That’s a very good point. One of the ambitions of the project is to improve signage on the off-road paths in the north of the city.

The following is a quote from the The Bike Station‘s website

To develop the map further, the Bike Station and Edinburgh and Lothian Greenspace Trust have been awarded over £98,000 funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund for the next twelve months to carry out conservation work along the paths in the North of Edinburgh, as well as to improve the signage and other amenities, in conjunction with others including City of Edinburgh Council. An interactive map and website will demonstrate to cyclists and walkers alike the potential and extent of Edinburgh’s paths as a means of moving about the city.