Google Street View Team Back in Honolulu [Updated]
Google Street View is going off-road in Hawaii. Or, at least, on college campuses on O’ahu.
My friend and radio co-host Burt Lum snapped the above photo this morning on the Kapiolani Community College campus, where the Google Street View Trike is now riding through all of the school’s walking paths and quads. Meanwhile, a Google Street View car (this Hyundai Santa Fe) is mapping all the campus roads and parking lots.
The word went out earlier this month that Google’s Street View Partner Program had asked the University of Hawaii whether it wanted to participate in the Google Street View program. Kapiolani Community College, Leeward Community College, and Honolulu Community College were among the campuses that volunteered.
I hope the flagship UH Manoa campus, with its wonderful mishmash of architecture, will also be represented. And if the neighbor islands are not included, they should be in a future trip. I’d love to be able to take a virtual stroll around UH Hilo in Google Maps.
UPDATE: David Lassner tells me that the Manoa campus was the first to be mapped, and that Google will be visiting all the campuses on Oahu (except the yet-to-be-built West Oahu campus) before, hopefully, visiting the neighbor islands, too.
Google’s unmistakable camera-carrying cars were first spotted on Hawaii roads back in the spring of 2009, and in the fall, Google Street View in Honolulu went live. The company has gone on to add streets on Maui and the Big Island as well.
No word on when these new UH campus maps will be online, but surely within ten to twelve months.
I do hope Google revisits the entire island again in the near future. Roads change, for sure, but as a personal aside, I’m a little miffed that they did such a thorough job of imaging the island — going as far as driving down Ian Lind’s narrow dead-end street in Kaaawa — but completely skipped Mililani Town, one of the largest communities in the state.
(That they mapped the newer Mililani Mauka development before driving straight through my hometown only added geeky insult to geeky injury.)
On the other hand, considering the condition of our backyard, it’s probably for the best.
Wow — how do you get a job doing that?
Can’t wait to see the new images! I saw the Google Street View car driving in Waikiki about a week ago but I don’t know if it was taking pictures. I’ll just have to see if I appear on updated imagery.
I would love to drive around a Google Car, or tricycle I guess.
It would also be fun to know where they’re going so we could set up scenes in front of our businesses when they drove by.
My father-in-law was one of the people who went around Maui for the last Google Street View and he LOVED it. I’m sure he’ll sign up again if/when they come back.
Seen the Google Car many, many times on the Windward side. Headed to Waimanalo, going to the H3, coming down the Pali, etc. Over a span of time too, not sure what’s with that.
I saw the Google Street View car today at 10 am in the Enchanted Lake area of Kailua, O`ahu! It drove by twice going in the same direction both times. I waved the second time — I hope they use that one!
What you wrote about mililani being missed by google maps made me laugh because I actually contacted them complaining about that exact thing and telling them that they did a great job getting some smaller boony country roads on google maps but completely ignored one of Hawai’is larger communities. maybe they got mililani cover this time. :) aloha