Cities across the United States are beginning to apply data collection apps to build up safer streets and motorcycle paths , NPRreports . In the past tense , urban deviser clamber to gather up data on actual cycle course and pavement exercise , but now , route - tracking apps allow urban planners to make changes base on the veridical experience of bicyclists and pedestrians .
Apps likeStrava MetroandCycleTrackswork like many exercise trackers , allow for wheeler and joggers to graph their routes and workout progress — but they alsocollect , anonymize , and aggregatedata , sending it to local transportation departments for analysis . The apps hoard datum on which wheel path are the most popular , and which route multitude are most likely to take when they even up or wheel . In this fashion , they permit urban planners to ensure that the most democratic cycle path are good as well as identify routes that need work .
In late age , the increase popularity of bicycle commutation has inspired many cities to work to make their streetsbike friendly . While some have introduced motorcycle - sharing programs to make bikes more accessible , others have plow to cutting edge - engineering . Rotterdam , for instance , has start out installing dealings lighter with rainfall detector , to shorten down on bike commuter ' traffic stop on showery twenty-four hours . Apps like Strava Metro and CycleTracks , meanwhile , are some of the first to use mobile app data collection for urban planning .
NPR explains that Strava Metro helped city planner in Portland , Oregon analyze pedestrian and cyclist custom of the new Tilikum Crossing bridge . By study the style in which actual cyclists and pedestrians were employ the bridge , the city was able to identify the best places to build footpath . " Before you could make alteration , you have to sleep with what is going on , " Strava Metro co - founder Michael Horvath narrate NPR .
While Strava Metro and CycleTracks are still relatively new resource for urban transportation department , many are hopeful that they will avail exile planners to make changes that reflect the real needs of city denizen . Alex Dodds of the advocacy alliance Smart Growth America severalize NPR that apps like Strava Metro are provide much - needed data on bicyclist and pedestrian habits .
" It was really hard for us to get answers because so few transportation agency garner selective information about what happens after you added a bike lane , " Dodds said . " There is just not enough information out there about who is bicycle , and where they are biking , and where they walk . "
[ NPR ]
