Updated NJ Bike Map available to review and comment; Meetings to come

Even Lance needs to check the map sometimes

NJDOT is holding a series of meetings to introduce and discuss the final draft of the New Jersey Statewide Bicycle Map and Resource Guide. In addition to attending the meetings, interested members of the public can comment on the maps via the NJ Bike Map Project website.

The bike map is intended to be a resource for education, advocacy, and trip planning. It includes locations of bike lanes and major multi-use trails. Roads are graded as Most Suitable, Moderately Suitable, and Least Suitable. The three grades for evaluated roads is not unlike the ratings for the BCGP regional bike map, but  with a different methodology being used the road ratings may differ on the respective maps.

WalkBikeJersey has been on top of this project from the beginning with extensive analysis.  We were flattered to find out that NJDOT and the project consultants have taken almost all of our suggestions to heart even though that meant totally reworking the project.  The updated draft map is a great improvement from the original draft and has now become a useful navigation tool for cyclists.

That said, it could be even better (I know, always the perfectionist).  While we are very grateful of the massive effort that went into rating the bicycle suitability of hundreds of roads, the end results is still less than perfect.  Some roads that I know to be perfectly dreamy to ride a bicycle on, at any time and on any day, are rated as "Least Suitable" while others that I would only be caught dead on are rated as "Moderately Suitable" (at least they weren't rated as "Most Suitable").   The more I study the latest map, the more it seems apparent to me that only roadway width and speed limit was use to calculate bicycle suitability and the most crucial factor "traffic volume" ignored.  Maybe the data on traffic volume wasn't available but as I discussed in WBJ's prior analysis, traffic volume is the most critical factor when determining bicycle suitability. 

The result is that if one takes just a cursory glance at the map one would think that New Jersey is a horrible place to ride a bike as the red lines of Least Suitable roads dominate.  We all know that's not true.  Cycling in New Jersey rocks!  Whether that be on the bucolic roadways near the Sergeantsville Covered Bridge in rural Hunterdon County or riding high above the Hudson on JFK Blvd in Union City, Hudson County.  And where road conditions do suck, there is almost always a bicycle friendly alternative.

On a more positive note, the scale of the latest drafts has been enlarged so that fine details are easier for cyclists to read but I still wish it was larger.  And finally, for all you bike tourists out there, all public and private campgrounds that are tent camping friendly have been accurately mapped.  This is courtesy of yours truly here at WalkBikeJersey who spent nearly 60 hours of researching and digitizing a campground data layer for NJDOT and their consultants to use.

Don't forget to give you comments and to attend the meetings.  Three meetings will be held in the North, South and Central parts of the state:

Tuesday, April 24
1:30pm-3:00pm
The George Luciano Family Center
Cumberland County College
Vineland, NJ

Thursday, April 26
1:30pm-3:00pm
Frelinghuysen Arboretum
53 East Hanover Avenue
Morristown, NJ

Thursday, May 10
10:00am-11:30am
NJDOT Headquarters
1035 Parkway Avenue
Trenton, NJ
Tuesday, April 24

If you choose to review and comment you must register as a user on the bike map website.

The original version of this post first appeared in the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle News published by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.  It was edited and reposted in with their permission.

Turnout high at first state bicycle map workshop

Close to 30 people attended the first workshop meeting for the New Jersey Bicycle Map, held yesterday at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris County. Those in the audience included representatives from several county governments, members of local cycling clubs, a prominent local bikeshop owner (Hi Marty!) and other concerned citizen cyclists. Representatives from NJDOT, The RBA Group and Steve Spindler of Steve Spindler Cartography were also there to discuss the impetus for the map project and what they hope to accomplish in the finished project.

To start the conversation Steve Spindler gave a presentation into how the map is being put together, from what sources the data is being acquired and the financial and physical limitations on the project. Mr. Spindler even honored WalkBikeJersey by featuring our article “What should a statewide bicycle map have?” in his presentation. Better yet he even liked all of the suggestions made in that article (I’m glad someone is paying attention to this blog).

Of all the questions asked by the participants probably the best and most profound was “what should the map tell people and who is the target audience?” This is probably the crux issue that will guide the final design of the map. Understanding that the map brought to the meeting is still a very rough draft, many audience members were still very concerned that the final map might not be at all useful for those wishing to navigate New Jersey's roadways by bicycle. Others noted that the map only gives people the idea that cycling is possible in New Jersey but that to actually navigate by bicycle the map should point people to other resources like county bike maps, local clubs or even other online sources like NJBikeMap.com and MapMyRide. Others said that this might not be such a bad idea as the map might act like tourism aid. Still many felt that the map needs to do both; aid in navigation while promoting the possibilities of bicycling in New Jersey.

Talk also did seem to focus on the relatively small scale of the map and that it might be too small to be useful for bicyclists. However, the discussion did hint that the current two-map layout is not a done deal and that other possible larger scale configurations are possible by either using larger sized maps or by dividing the state into more that two sections.

Overall, this workshop was a success. However one did get a feeling that the final product in this first edition might not be what many audience members are looking for, namely an aid to navigation. The potential cause of this seemed to be mostly due to budget, data source, layout, and time limitations in this first project scope. However this does not mean that this first edition map is already destine to disappoint. If the map designers can get a hold of good quality source data from local governments, counties, bicycle clubs and from cyclists themselves, this first edition map could still be a first rate product. Even if it is less than perfect all in attendance were reminded that this is only a first edition and that future editions and online revisions will always allow for improvements at a later date.

If you didn’t attend the first meeting, don’t forget that there will be two more workshop meetings coming next week in Central and South Jersey. From what I overheard, the South Jersey meeting had very few RSVPs at this time and that those working on the project really need to hear from the folks in the south whether they be government officials or local cyclists. If you live in South or Central Jersey please try to attend the next to workshops if you can to help make this the best statewide bicycle map anywhere. Don't forget that all are encouraged to review the draft map on the interactive website, (http://bikemap.com/njbike/) where you are requested to RSVP for the session you plan on attending.

Central Jersey
Tuesday, December 7
9:30am to 11:30am
NJDOT Headquarters
1035 Parkway Ave
Trenton, NJ

South Jersey
Wednesday, December 8
10:00am to 12:00 noon
The George Luciano Family Center
Cumberland County College
Vineland, NJ

Op-Ed: What should a statewide bicycle map have?

So last week I posted a general notice about NJDOT’s public forums to get some feedback in their efforts to put together a statewide bicycle map. This project leaves me very excited since I love maps and will even confess to having over 100 in my collection. I read maps like people read books, plotting adventures and rides many of which, unfortunately, will never come to pass.

As for bicycle specific maps that I’ve seen, results seem to be hit or miss. Some of maps are excellent, a number are mediocre but still useful, while others are downright useless for navigating by bike and aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. From decades of map use to travel by bike here in New Jersey, elsewhere around North American and in Europe, I would like to suggest some ideas that I feel are critical in producing a quality New Jersey Bike Map:

• Rate roads for bicycle suitability – This is by far the most important bit of information that a bicycle map can provide but is often not done at all or in a way that I think is incorrect. Many bicycle maps simply list the presence of a shoulder or a bicycle lane to rate the bicycle suitability of a road. Using this as the only or primary criteria in a rating system can make for a bad bicycle map. Without considering other factors, I’ve seen some maps give busy six-lane highways what appear to be a more appealing bicycle suitability ratings than the back roads that I know are fantastic to ride on. Yes, the highway has a shoulder but the little back road only gets 10 cars per hour making the shoulder all but unnecessary for bicycle travel. The most important factor in rating bicycle suitability of a roadway is traffic volume. A road may be narrow, with a 50mph speed limit and no shoulder but if only a handful of cars pass by on a given hour, that road would be far superior for riding than a 25mph arterial with a well engineered bike lanes but heavy and continuous traffic. Knowing if there is a shoulder or bike lane is still useful but that info will always be of secondary importance to a cyclist compared to knowing or conveying traffic volume.

• Keep it large-scale – Maps that include a very large geographic area are said to be small-scale. Such small-scale maps can make visualizing details difficult, again such as small back roads that cyclists seek out due to their low traffic volumes and superior scenery. To me a scale of 1:63,360 or 1 inch = 1 mile would be ideal. 1:100,000 would be acceptable (1cm = 1km) but anything beyond 1:126,720 (1 inch = 2 miles) and you start to lose the granular detail that cyclists need. If the scale is too small the map can end up becoming useless now matter how accurate and well presented the information on it. This would likely require the creation of more than two maps but I think this could be the difference of creating just a good map to an excellent one. For example Delaware’s useful bike map divides the state into three sections, one for each county, and Delaware is smaller than New Jersey.

• Quality Cartography – I’ve gotten spoiled from my days traveling in Europe because the maps you buy over there are true works of art. These maps are mostly hand drawn (or so they seem) and the iconography and detail they use allow for an amazing amount of information to be clearly and concisely conveyed to the map user. As a traveler of non-motorized means one will quickly appreciate the detail and information a good map can convey, particularly as the light of day begins to fade while traveling on unfamiliar roads with many miles still to go.

• Label all roads (at least the through streets) – One of the greatest shortcomings of some bicycle maps that I’ve used was the failure to label small roads. Experience has taught me to seek out the small roads and residential back streets to avoid the high traffic volumes on arterials. While it is useful to indicate that the labeled arterial street is unsuited for bicycle travel, it would be nice to have the local side streets comprehensively labeled to help navigate around that arterial.

• Show topography by some graphic means – A bicycle map doesn’t need topographic lines but some sort of shading to show terrain relief is just about an absolute necessity. I also like the system that many European maps use to show the grade of a climb. Chevrons are pointed uphill with a number of chevrons used to indicate steepness in grade percentage (> = 5 to 9%, >> = 10 to 14%, >>> more than 15%). Also reference elevations of significant mountains like High Point, Bearfort, Jenny Jump, the Sourland Mountains and even Apple Pie Hill in the Pine Barrens should be given, just to name a few.

• Include and indicate unpaved roads – From the draft I looked at on-line last week, many of the gravel and dirt roads in Hunterdon County are shown on the map. This is good since these roads, by nature have very little motor vehicle traffic and are very useful to cyclists. However the map should somehow indicate that these roads are unpaved so unsuspecting roadies aren’t caught off guard. On the flip side, some significant sand roads in the Pine Barrens were omitted even though there were no other roads in that area on the map that would be competing for space. In the same vein, it would be nice to indicate graphically if multi-use pathways are paved with asphalt or some unpaved surface.

• Locate camping icons directly where the campsites are located – For example, from the draft I’ve seen, camping is indicated in Stokes State Forest but the icon is just placed randomly in the green area indicating the state forest. Stokes State Forest is rather large, at least a dozen miles across or more in some parts. Having an accurate idea where the THREE campgrounds are actually located throughout the forest would allow for bicycle tourists to more accurately estimate travel distance and time. Also it would be nice to include county (Morris and Monmouth, maybe others) campgrounds as well as private ones (mostly located in South Jersey).

• Include all NJ TRANSIT train stations and major bus terminals.

• Finally, do not forget that some of the users of this map will be tourists from out of state or even out of the country. Do not assume they know anything about New Jersey and that they outcome of their trip may be entirely dependent on the information provided on the map. I’ve been there on a road far away from home, relying on the map to get me safely to my destination so I know how important an accurate map can be.

From what I’ve seen of the draft New Jersey bike map, NJDOT and its consultants are off to a good start. Still, they must remember that there are already plenty of other good map sources that this map will be competing against. Google Maps with its “Bike There” instructions has shown itself to be a very useful tool and Map My Ride will even calculate vertical profiles as it maps your ride. As for printed maps however, I still find myself grabbing for my Hagstrom and ADC county maps over any county bicycle map published for a New Jersey county so far (the new Mercer County bike map is really good but it’s only an online source as far as I know). Still, I have high hopes for this map project and look forward to the final product.

NJDOT to produce New Jersey Bike Map - Wants your input

From the NJ Bike Map Project Site and mailing:

The New Jersey Bicycle Map is funded through the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and is managed by The RBA Group. The purpose of the project is to provide a map of the preferred bicycling routes for the entire state. This project invites public input.

Our target is to have the map ready for the public in the summer of 2011.

To make sure they hear the needs of cyclists from around the state NJDOT is hosting 3 meeting around the state.

North Jersey
Wednesday, December 1
10:00am to 12:00 noon
Frelinghuysen Arboretum
55 East Hanover Ave
Morristown, NJ

Central Jersey
Tuesday, December 7
9:30am to 11:30am
NJDOT Headquarters
1035 Parkway Ave
Trenton, NJ

South Jersey
Wednesday, December 8
10:00am to 12:00 noon
The George Luciano Family Center
Cumberland County College
Vineland, NJ

Prior to the meeting, all are encouraged to review the draft map on the interactive website, (http://bikemap.com/njbike/). You must register first and answer a few questions but then you can download PDFs of the latest drafts. If your town, county or other organization has data that might help in the correct or complete the map, you are also encouraged to upload it to that sight. Once you register on the site you will receive e-mail notices each time a new map is posted.

Please RSVP to Elizabeth Cox, The RBA Group at 973-946-5736 or rsvp_njbikemap@rbagroup.com a week before the meeting. Attendees will be sent an agenda and directions. If you are unable to attend, participation is encouraged through the website.

At the end of the maps development a PDF of the final map will be posted on a web site. Printing of the maps will be sponsored by organizations interested in supporting cyclists. If your organization would like to help sponsor printing, please contact the NJDOT project manager.