While Tallinn has cycle lanes marked on the map as a unified network within its submitted plans, in reality these run the gamut in terms of how well they are marked out and how continuous they are.

For instance, it is not unknown for a stretch of good, well-segregated cycle path of a decent width to fizzle out into a sidewalk or road after a few hundred meters, for instance.

Another issue is getting through to Google in any case, Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) told "Aktuaalne kaamera," adding that he hoped he could address this.

"Google is such a peculiar organization that you don't get an answer from there. We haven't got cycle paths on the map, nor any answer either. Our belief is that with an appeal at the political level, the response could be different this time," the mayor said.

Urban mobility expert Tõnis Savi said the quality of cycle lanes still needs addressing before they could be included by Google.

"If we look at where and what these cycle routes are, then there's nothing to be done. Quite a large part of them actually do not meet standards or the city's own goals as set," he said.

Tallinn Bicycle Week organizer Risto Kalmre agreed, saying: "Since that time when we started our cycling themes – somewhere around 15 years ago – major progress has been made, but I think this strategy should be carried out better and should connect these cycle paths. Right now, it is well solved in fragments, but as a network, it doesn't work very well," he said.

Mayors of Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius made a joint appeal to Google's web platform to enable the cycle lanes in all three Baltic capitals to be visible on the Google Maps application.

In this way, when choosing a route, planning a through trip solely on the bike would be viable, they argued, noting this has been possible in Helsinki and many other European capitals and other cities for several years now.
Tallinn has made such requests to Google multiple times in recent years, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

Mayor Ossinovski conceded the infrastructure in Tallinn "is still far from ideal," citing the situation at major intersections as one concern.

"The experience of other cities shows that in addition to those cycle lanes marked on the map, if a complete travel route does not emerge, then the map app instead directs cyclists to quieter side streets," he added.

Hundreds of cyclists congregate several times each year for the Tour D'Öö evening cycle events, which have been run for about a decade in various parts of Tallinn. Organizers say paying attention to bottlenecks is also an important aspect of planning routes, adding there is still no shortage of such bottlenecks as things stand.

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