Google Maps UK River, Canal Routes

Google has revealed plans to map some 2,000 miles of canal towpaths to add to its services in an effort to encourage people to get out and explore the waterways of the UK.

Google is undertaking the project in conjunction with the Canal & River Trust, which is responsible for the UK’s water systems, and wants to highlight the existence of canal path routes through towns and cities by adding them to Google Map searches.

Ed Parsons, a geospatial technologist at Google UK, said this should help people discover new parts of their local area they may never have known existed.

“Canal towpaths offer green routes through our towns and cities and by working with the Canal & River Trust we’re adding towpaths to Google Maps and encouraging people to discover their local waterway,” he said.

The move is just one of a number of ways Google will be hoping to maintain its lead as the dominant mapping provider after Apple’s announcement to partner with TomTom.

It comes after it recently announced plans to take its Street View service into remote locations and to the air with 3D aerial imagery of major cities set to be unveiled in the coming months.

This article was originally published on V3.