I recently suggested a new Bicycle Repair Station and Pump be added to Google Maps. It is visible on street view, and I suggested adding it using the nearest street address, 120 11th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203. I included photos. This edit was accepted, within hours.
A few days later I discovered another Bicycle Repair Station and Pump nearby, within a few hundred feet. It is located on a Multi Use Path, called the Gulch Greenway. This is not a road, although it is a public Trail. It does not have addresses along it. It does not have Street View. It does appear on Satellite View, although the Bicycle Repair Station and Pump is too small a feature to show on Satellite View. I also took photos of this Bicycle Repair Station and Pump (example below), and submitted them as a second suggested edit, using the Plus code 5657+99G Nashville, Tennessee, USA to try and identify it’s location.
However, the editor misunderstood my attempt to add another similar item so close, and instead of creating another pin, they moved the first Bicycle Repair Station and Pump FROM 120 11th Ave S TO the Gulch Greenway. This also took place within hours of my submission.
I repeated my edit suggestion back at the original location, but this resulted in the next editor moving the Bicycle Repair Station and Pump BACK to 120 11th Ave S, and DELETING the Gulch Greenway location, again within hours!
Is there a way I can communicate that I am trying to add two separate although very similar items, very close together, one of which does not have a street address, to Maps?
Google Maps uses the list of categories to inform us what kinds of pins can be added to Google Maps.
What category did you use? In the list of categories available to me there is no category called Bicycle Repair Station. Only Bicycle Repair Shop. To me that indicates a staffed business.
Previously, there has been reports of legit businesses getting automatically merged when close to each other. This is likely put in place to reduce the number of duplicate pins.
Some reported the problem was solved by creating the second pin further away and then move it after it was created.
I used the “bike rack” category from the drop downs; I copied the category and name I saw used in other cities for these repair facilities.
Your suggestion is a good one, thank you.
I have now noticed the “Your opinions about maps” option in “Edit the map”, which appears to allow free text format commenting of edits to Maps. So, as well as your suggestion, I may try to write the issue there.
Do you have any experience with using this option to communicate edits?
An unmanned Bike service station is not a bike rack. To me a bike rack is where we can park our bicycles (or mount it on the back of a car).
Creative use of the categories is never recommended since it makes a mess in the database. Others may not have the same understanding.
Sometimes I see places where this is done and an attempt is done to rectify it by adding some suppletary category text in the name field. This is also clearly against the guidelines.
Strictly, we should not add places if the correct and specific category is not available.
I know you have the best intentions.
A better next step would be to suggest the category added on Google Maps. You can do this in the Idea Exchange section.
Or maybe @JanVanHaver knows about a more correct category to use. Because it would be super relevant to have such places on Google Maps in my opinion. Is there a category for bicycle pump?
For your other question, please ask in the relevant thread to keep Connect organized.
In fact @Railrobert@MortenCopenhagen I am also not aware of a proper category being available at the moment - although it would indeed be a very useful one, as those in need of it would experience it as a great help to find them on Maps in the exact moment of distress when they would need this (and I have such a pump just 200 meters from my house, so I will start helping to map then straight away).
My suggested approach:
check out this idea submitted recently by @TorM - and give it a thumbs up
use it as inspiration to submit a similar idea for your suggested category
let @MortenCopenhagen@TorM and myself know when it is submitted, so we can give it a thumbs up
No, neither public bike/bicycle repair “stand” or “station” or “tools” or “pump” is an existing category in the USA.
The manufacturers of the most common stands in the USA, Dero and Saris, sell public bike pumps separately, so public bike repair stations and public bike pumps do not necessarily come together - there would be cost, space and maintenance reasons why one might install one and not the other.
Thanks for the tips. I have made the suggestion at the Ideas site you recommend. I really appreciate that.
Unfortunately I do not how to reduce the file size of the photos of Public Bike Repair Stations that I have, so I have not been able to upload any photos.
