NBG Point of Interest Maps
To help cyclists learn the layout of each of our 20 Anchor Cities, on their maps, each of them will be outfitted with what we call Point Of Interest (POI) icons for the following locations
In the early 90’s, when we first started the National Bicycle Greenway in Santa Cruz, CA, we needed a data base of cyclist serving businesses in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Pre-internet, we gave them free listings in our Cycle America Regional Directories. These were small books that did in a very small way what the Internet does in ways we could have never imagined. With four color pull-out maps, they showed cyclists in the various areas they served where to ride, eat, sleep, shop and play - HERE is our wine country book.
To get that data base built, we turned to the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center, an amazing organization that matches local nonprofit businesses with volunteers. They have a pool of people looking for ways to give of their time to build their community. They also match people in need of court ordered community service hours with those nonprofit agencies that can make the best use of their skill sets.
In the era of the Internet however, while we enjoy the richness of actual online maps that we can customizes, the task of getting businesses associated with them has become more complex. And that is why we will use the seed money we will acquire to contract with a cartographer(s) for this service.
As we more and more flesh out our Anchor Cities with Point Of Interest icons on our maps, by making them more and more familiar, it will cause more people to want to bike in them. In giving face to the people and businesses in these locations, we will be encouraging cyclists to want to visit them. Instead of pedal visits to our Anchors looking like a black box filled with strangers and the danger of the unknown, they will look like there is a family waiting to welcome new cyclists with open arms.
Just as baseball players have their stadiums, basketball players have their arenas and race car drivers have their race tracks, in time NBG Anchor Cities marked with the services they need will give cyclists the dignity of their own riding turf. When bike riders are seen as enriching the pocketbooks and improving the quality of life of all those along the way, they will be wanted visitors. A working NBG, filled with a network of Anchor Cities, will establish bicyclists as legitimate users of the road in the eyes of the motoring public no matter where they travel.
As for the growing numbers of long haul cyclists who will not be afraid to pass through our Anchor Cities, storekeepers will notice too. Differentiated by their gear-laden bicycles, their presence will compel the merchants along the way to give them preferential treatment. Since they are not a threat to children or small animals as they jockey about looking for parking spots, but bring quiet and smiling faces, their visits will not only be welcomed but encouraged.
Filling our Anchor Cities, coast to coast with businesses sympathetic to our cross country cycling efforts, will begin to reunite us as a people. It will reinforce the notion that all of us transcontinental cycle veterans know, that this America is filled with people who just want to help each other. Instead of this Nation being filled with the dark deeds of strangers, as the news media works to convince us, from ocean to ocean, this is a country held together by one common thread - LOVE.
There will also be a camera icon on our maps. With it, NBG Members will be able to upload pictures they have taken of those areas they want to call attention to.
In addition, in each of our Anchor Cities, there will be an NBG logo icon. Clicking on it will reveal all of those merchants who have signed on to support the National Bicycle Greenway. For a small fee, those businesses who choose to participate with us can be listed in this pop up with a link that goes to their location on our maps. There will be an option for them to stand out on the list in bold face type.
They can also become a bigger part of the National Bicycle Greenway by paying to have their place of business qualified with a description, a review and/or a podcast. They can also have a standalone presence on the macro view of our anchor city to anchor city map. Here for example is our San Jose to San Francisco map. It is what the browser sees before they drill down deeper into the map -
When one clicks on the knife and fork icon, in this screen view, it brings them to a short discussion of the meal we enjoyed at one of our merchants.
Where available, businesses can also sponsor certain sections of our route that we call Greenway Miles that we will talk about in Book 2. Additionally, to make sure we don't miss any possible points of interest, there will be a form at our maps with which users can add their own suggestions.
As more and more points of interest get added to our map, there are many benefits that will accrue for the business interests that appear as NBG sponsors. Such a presence will raise their profile in the eyes of their own communities. It is here that they will be seen as one of our allies especially when they buy into one of our programs noted above. They will also be seen as quality of life purveyors. This as they enjoy busier cash registers.
They will join a national community of businesses who want to see a coast to coast bicycle Main Street made real. By joining forces with us, they will know they are a part of bringing business back to America’s downtowns, away from its car centric shopping malls, and away from online shopping. By encouraging bicycle visits, they will know that their success will not be measured by how much parking they can provide. Instead, they will be aware that by not being at the mercy of car visits, they will be surrounded by the richness of a more peaceful and quiet world.
In terms of the actual mechanics of getting merchant presence on our maps, there will be two ways they can get involved. They can arrange for such a position with one of our ad sales reps. Or they can go online and fill out the form we will have built for this purpose.