Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
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Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
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Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#2Tangential, but I wish there was open traffic data with high coverage for planning low-traffic cycling routes. Looked at openly available aerial images, but the resolution is not high enough to detect traffic
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#3This is really cool! Though a writeup would be nice instead of a 50 minute video. OpenCycleMap is really a gem - it's why I bought the house I did (among other reasons). Thunderforest puts together some nice bike layers in their map tiles too.
Related, there's some free courses on how to do Urban Mobility Visualizations (those cool 3d renders architects and urban planners make) at urbanmobilitycourses.eu, well worth checking out.
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#4Tangential, but I wish there was open traffic data with high coverage for planning low-traffic cycling routes. Looked at openly available aerial images, but the resolution is not high enough to detect traffic
https://github.com/graphhopper/open-traffic-collection may be of help.
I would think it would be a challenge to get useful data from such a source even if resolution were high enough. That nice low traffic road may have been photographed in the weekend, outside traffic hours, on a national holiday, because of a road black a kilometer away, etc.
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#5Tangential, but I wish there was open traffic data with high coverage for planning low-traffic cycling routes. Looked at openly available aerial images, but the resolution is not high enough to detect traffic
Cyclestreets.net has traffic avoiding routes, but I believe it's mostly based on the road type from openstreetmap data.
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#6Tangential, but I wish there was open traffic data with high coverage for planning low-traffic cycling routes. Looked at openly available aerial images, but the resolution is not high enough to detect traffic
Strava global heatmap is pretty good if you trust other cyclists' judgment: https://www.strava.com/heatmap .
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#7Tangential, but I wish there was open traffic data with high coverage for planning low-traffic cycling routes. Looked at openly available aerial images, but the resolution is not high enough to detect traffic
Strava global heatmap is pretty good if you trust other cyclists' judgment: https://www.strava.com/heatmap .
The lingering issue I have with that is that at first glance you see some cool routes, but then you get there and realize it was clearly a route for mountainbikers. I commute via track bike, which couldn't be any more ill-suited for the terrain. Given that my bike and style of riding is more suited for flat smooth pavement, I generally just ride with traffic as the routes are better maintained and it is easier to know when there is a pothole ahead.
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#8Tangential, but I wish there was open traffic data with high coverage for planning low-traffic cycling routes. Looked at openly available aerial images, but the resolution is not high enough to detect traffic
Strava global heatmap is pretty good if you trust other cyclists' judgment: https://www.strava.com/heatmap .
To further your point about trust a little: Strava-using cyclists are a very specific group of cyclists IME.
Back when I used it my commute had tens of segments with 40km/hr medallists, and a sprint segment with weekly new records in excess of 50km/hr. And, you can even catch snipers rolling on to and off a road near me to protect effort for a two kilometre junction-free sprint most weekends.
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#9Very cool! I need to use this more for Los Angeles. The city is known to be one of the worst cycling cities in the US (and many parts are quite awful). But given that it is such a huge behemoth of sprawl there are also some quite amazing bike paths and places to cycle if you know where to go. And the LACBC is doing amazing work on getting that expanded - one day somewhat soon there should be a bike path running the entire LA river. On top of that Cyclavia is an amazing event I highly recommend anyone in the area participate in.
Re: Video: Why Open Data Matters for Cycling: Visualizing a Cycling City
#10Tangential, but I wish there was open traffic data with high coverage for planning low-traffic cycling routes. Looked at openly available aerial images, but the resolution is not high enough to detect traffic
Strava global heatmap is pretty good if you trust other cyclists' judgment: https://www.strava.com/heatmap .
Strava heatmap is terrible. It is heavily biased toward experienced (and often very fit/quick) recreational/sport/fitness cyclists.
I'm a very experienced cyclist and I don't upload my 'transportation' rides. It's not worth it. So all the data from me riding a particular route twice, five times a week - as well as my preferred routes to various activities, shopping, etc - doesn't make it into strava. My fun / training rides do.
Strava ride uploads tend to come from more confident and willing to ride on roads that are more intimidating or require confident riding techniques to be safe (such as riding at the edge of a bike lane, or on a multi-lane road, taking the lane). Cycling in urban settings is much less intimidating if you're fit and able to accelerate quickly and bike at closer to the average speed of traffic (which often really isn't that fast.) Drivers are a lot less prone to "punish passes" and other dangerous behavior if you're fast.
They may ride a particular road that is terrible for cycling but they have no other choice because of where they are coming from or going to, and because they tend to ride a lot, they'll bias the heatmap. One of my favorite routes to ride involved an utter shitshow of 5 minutes worth of riding, and I took that road several times a week.
It should also be known that Strava tries to play up their "we make data available for city urban planners and cycling advocates!" to their userbase...and then turns around and charges an obscene amount of money.
Speaking of money: strava data means you miss the vast majority of people riding bicycles - those on the very lowest rungs of the economic ladder. They don't have GPS activity watches or GPS bike computers, they don't give a damn about recording their ride to/from work/school; they may not even have a smartphone, period. They don't have 12+ hours of leisure time a week to go for rides for fun, etc.
Bike advocacy groups are increasingly trying to account for these folks, because they're largely "invisible" - they don't sign up for newsletters from bike committees and advocacy groups, they often are riding outside "9-5" commute hours because they're working shifts/nights and riding to/from neighorhoods wealthier folks do. Most people think that in any given city the predominant cycling demographic is hipster programmers on track bikes...not realizing how many cyclists are maintenance/cleaning/construction/food service workers are out on the roads while they're asleep.