Innovative mobile app to transform urban cycling experiences

By Aafke Eppinga

BiciZen is an open and collaborative platform that crowdsources data about everyday cycling experiences, providing invaluable insights to improve cycling infrastructure and promote a sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle.

As an innovative solution, BiciZen empowers cyclists by enabling them to share information about bicycle parking, theft, safety, conflicts with other road users, and obstructions in cycle paths. Additionally, the app allows users to suggest improvements to cycling infrastructures and report positive cycling experiences, fostering a strong cycling community.

BiciZen was developed through a research collaboration between five universities of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU), funded by the ECIU SMART-ER seed program for citizen science, the universities write in a press release.

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Future of bicycle infrastructure

By participating in BiciZen, users contribute to a larger dialogue on the future of bicycle infrastructure in their cities, and also to a broader research project that helps city officials understand patterns and problems related to urban cycling. The data collected on the BiciZen platform offers a historical record of cycling incidents, events, and commentaries, which can be consulted by all stakeholders, including activists, city planners, and researchers.

The BiciZen app is now available for download on both iOS and Android platforms. As a testament to its commitment to openness and collaboration, the anonymized datasets collected through the app will be shared as open data for research use.

To carry out this project, the BiciZen team includes the participation of CUBIC, the ICTA-UAB’s City Lab Barcelona, the Dublin City University, the Tampere University, the University of Twente and the University of Aveiro. 

BiciZen is an open and collaborative platform that crowdsources data about everyday cycling experiences in city regions around Europe. The platform aims to empower cyclists with information that can improve their everyday cycling experience while also contributing to a broader research project and helping city officials understand patterns and problems related to cycling.

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