DENVER– MapQuest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL), today announced the launch of additional routing options with bike and pedestrian directions available on each of its 27 open-source sites, and a domestic transit solution in six U.S. cities.
“The beauty of crowd-sourced maps is that the locals truly offer expert knowledge on what they know, see, do, travel by and experience”
MapQuest’s new bicycle and pedestrian routing options seamlessly integrate with the existing features for bug reporting, editing and user improvement. These new features are powered by the OpenStreetMap crowd-sourced database.
“The beauty of crowd-sourced maps is that the locals truly offer expert knowledge on what they know, see, do, travel by and experience,” said Christian Dwyer, senior vice president and general manager, MapQuest. “Roads are extremely relevant to drivers, but if you travel by foot or bike, certain routes may make more sense. These new global features cater to those who are not travelling by car, as well as leverage the rich biking and walking path data captured by the community.”
Available on open.mapquest.com in six domestic markets, the transit option provides an additional routing solution to urbanites in the metro areas of New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco, reaching roughly 90 percent of the nation’s rail ridership*. This capability was originally only provided on MapQuest.com.
“We like to say this is a map for the people, by the people, and it’s important for MapQuest to continually expand the tools, imagery and solutions for the growing needs in every community across the globe,” said Antony Pegg, principal product manager. “It’s simply not enough for MapQuest to solely make the data available; we want to make it usable to the average consumer in meaningful ways that help inform their decisions.”
For more details, visit MapQuest’s developer blog. To learn more about the MapQuest Open Initiative, visit developer.mapquest.com/open or send an e-mail to open@mapquest.com.
* American Public Transportation Association
About MapQuest
MapQuest provides Internet, mobile, and business solutions delivering on the promise of helping people research and discover: where is it, how I get there and what’s nearby. MapQuest is one of the leading mapping brands online, offering maps and directions, and reaching more than 44 million users in January 2011, according to comScore Media Metrix. MapQuest’s mobile solutions are compatible with a variety of mobile devices, including iPhone and BlackBerry devices. MapQuest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Inc., is based in Denver, Colo.