Map your bike routes with iPhone: Ride the City app launched

Ride the City, a free website that this spring had expanded to show safer bike routes to Toronto cyclists, has launched a new version of its iPhone app that will work in Toronto and a bunch of American cities. Torontonians now have the chance to either use the website or the app to map out their routes.

Key features of the iPhone app:

• As on the website, the iPhone app steers cyclists toward routes that maximize the use of bike lanes, bike paths, greenways, and other bike-friendly streets. The app avoids high-traffic streets and steep climbs.
• Cyclists may use Ride the City at home and while they’re traveling. The app works in Austin, Chicago, Louisville, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington DC. New cities are added regularly.
• Find the nearest bike shops (and get directions to one) with just one touch.
• Users can adjust how far they’re willing to go out of the way for safer streets, and can choose a more direct route instead.
• The directions are displayed on an easy-to-read scrollable screen that also includes the distance, a time estimate and the amount of climbing on the route.
• Ride the City’s routing data is built on user feedback. The Report an Error button is displayed prominently on the map, allowing users to provide suggestions when the app steers them the wrong way.
• As on the website, Ride the City utilizes a CloudMade basemap that is sourced from OpenStreetMap, the volunteer community mapping project that is making a free map of the world.
• The app is compatible with iPhone OS 4 and previous versions of iOS.

The app is available from the iTunes App Store for $2.99 and was developed by DOOR3. Ride the City was created by Vaidila Kungys and Jordan Anderson, out of New York City.