Dublin cyclists invited to share their cycling insights for SynchroniCity Project

 

Dublin City Council and Smart Dublin, through the SynchroniCity initiative – an EU project designed to accelerate the adoption of new technologies – invite cyclists to take part in an innovative smart cycling project that will connect 800 cyclists across Dublin, Antwerp and Manchester simultaneously.

Cyclists will use the See.Sense bike lights and mobile app, to collect crowdsourced sensor data and insights across the three cities. The data collected will be shared with city planners to highlight situations faced by cyclists in the three cities on a daily basis.

Those wishing to take part can register their interest now by logging onto http://bit.ly/SmartCyclingDublin. The project runs from June to August 2019.

Partnering with cycling technology startup See.Sense and telecommunications company BT, the project is aimed at encouraging the growth of cycling across the participating cities.

The award-winning See.Sense bike light shines brightly both in daylight and at nighttime and reacts to moments when a cyclist may be at risk by automatically flashing brighter and faster. They don’t just make a cyclist safer though – they give them a voice.

Evidence needed to support cycling infrastructure planning

The technology inside the light can collect near-real-time data on journeys, speed, dwell time, road surface quality, collisions, near-miss events and other self-reported events. In addition, via the app, user profile data is collected detailing gender, age, level of cycling experience, alongside the type of bicycle used. These insights are then gathered and anonymised and shared with the city to provide the evidence needed to support cycling infrastructure planning and promote active travel.

Speaking about the smart cycling project Christopher Manzira, Senior Transportation Officer with Dublin City Council says, “We are delighted to work with See.Sense and BT as part of the Synchronicity initiative. The rich data gathered from this approach will generate unique insights into the experience of cycling in our city that will help to inform our strategies for overall mobility, how we promote active travel, plan, engage with citizens and how we evaluate the impact of new cycling infrastructure investment.”

As Irene McAleese, Co-founder of See.Sense says, “We are excited to work with Dublin City Council and Smart Dublin once again to bring technology and the cycling community together, to enable more cycling and improve journeys for everyone.”

Professor John Davies, Chief Researcher, Future Business Technology, BT says, “We want to validate the scalability of the BT IoT hub across multiple locations with increased volume of data. We want to deliver more insights into the way cyclists travel to optimise the value of an investment in cycling infrastructure and get people out of their cars and onto their bikes.”

For information on the project visit https://smartdublin.ie/synchronicity-smart-cycling-project.