The Dane County, Wisconsin Bicycle Map has gone a long way since the first map was done by hand and ink in 1988 (Fig. 1) using Leroy Lettering (for those that remember what that is). Since then, the Madison Area Transportation Planning Board (MATPB) has been publishing printed versions annually that are available for free at various locations in Dane County. A PDF of the map can be also be downloaded from the MATPB Dane County Bicycle Map web page. This map was created entirely within ArcGIS Desktop.
Fig 1. A portion of the hand drawn Dane County Bicyclist Map fron 1988.
Although the printed version of the map is very popular, the MATPB also has an interactive version of the Bicyclist Map developed with ArcGIS Online Web AppBuilder that is able to show more detail and stay current. When the Web app is first opened, by default it displays on-street facilities (bike lanes, bicycle boulevards, cycle tracks), off-street facilities (bike paths), and recommended routes. Additional layers such as bike lane width can also be turned on. The user can click on a bicycle feature on the interactive map to get a pop-up with more information such as the bike path name or street name, width of the bike facility, and if lighting is available. Several different base maps options are available including the most recent orthophotography acquisition for the area.
A large portion of Dane County is rural, and as would be expected, these areas have fewer bicycle facilities available. To accommodate rural bicyclists, the MATPB has rated the suitability of bicycling on rural roadways based on traffic counts, pavement width, and traffic speed. These suitability ratings are also available on the interactive map.
The MATPB is currently working on a Level of Traffic Stress rating for all roadways that will also be added to the interactive map or have its own application in the near future.
GIS Trivia:
Coordinates refrenced to the origin of a given corrdinate system are:
- Positive
- Bounded
- False
- Incorrect
- Absolute