Kitchener adding city trails and parks to Google Street View this summer

The City of Kitchener is adding its trails and parks to Google Street View this summer to give people the option to explore them virtually before they head out.

Courtney Zinn lab director at the City of Kitchener's Innovation Lab, hopes the project will give people a chance to discover new trails and fill in some gaps when planning their trips.

"Unless other people have contributed other imagery, you're only really getting to the entry points," she said.

"We saw this as an opportunity to capture the ground level imagery and give people a chance to understand what the trail is like. Is it shady? Is it sunny? Are there seating areas or rest points?"

With more people doing things virtually because of the pandemic, Zinn said giving the community a chance to view the trails online has become a priority.

You may notice an orange tricycle on trails

Uploading the trails to Google Street View will be a gradual process throughout June until August, starting with trails that are maintained throughout the winter.

People may spot University of Guelph's computer science student Zhelong Chen on a bright orange tricycle during those months. He's tasked with capturing all of the city's 125 km of trails using a special 360 degree camera mounted on his helmet.

Chen said he's never been on this type of tricycle before. The trike is electric, which helps him with steep trails and the fat tires help navigate difficult terrain.

Chen sees this experience as more than a summer job. Throughout the summer he hopes to reconnect with people and his former love for cycling while exploring Kitchener.

"I was a road cyclist and mountain biker for a long time," he said. 

"I would like to find my old self back. I would also like to take this opportunity to explore the city of Kitchener as it is a new city, a fresh city for me. I've never been here before this job."

Recording in session

Once Chen picks up the trike from city hall and maps outs what trails he'll be visiting that day, part of his routine is to set up signs at each entry point to notify people that active recording is taking place along the trail.

The back of the trike also has a sign to notify people as he cycles by.

"A lot of people are interested and very curious about what I'm doing," he said.

"Most people are really friendly."

Zinn said they're working with the city's privacy team to make sure the project meets the requirements for privacy once the images are collected, such as blurring out faces and vehicle licence plates.

In addition to Google Street View, Zinn said people can also check out the trails on the city website under the trails and parks section.