Tuesday, November 17, 2009 (SF Chronicle) City insider/Cyclists' app aids traffic planners Michael Cabanatuan, Heather Knight
If you see bicyclists wobbling through the city streets with an iPhone in hand, don't assume they're playing Bejeweled or IMing their virtual pals while they pedal.
They may be using Cycle Tracks, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority's new - and first - application for the Apple iPhone.
Once bike riders install the app, they tap the "start recording" button, which begins tracking their trips and displaying them on a city map. When they're done pedaling, they hit the "save" button, and the details of their journeys are sent to the authority, as well as saved in the user's iPhone. The app uses GPS to track riders' routes.
The authority plans to feed the data into the state-of-the-art computer model it uses to predict future traffic patterns. The goal is to figure out where bicyclists ride, why they choose those routes and how development decisions or transportation changes might affect them, said Billy Charlton, the authority's deputy director for technology services.
As an incentive to get more cyclists to download and use Cycle Tracks, the authority is holding a drawing for 10 $50 iTunes gift cards. Anyone who downloads the app and uses it at least once will automatically be entered.
For those secretive (or paranoid) cyclists who want to help out but might not want certain trips tracked, the authority offers some assurances. All trips are dumped into the database anonymously, they say, and someone who ends up pedaling somewhere they don't want anyone to know about can always hit the cancel button, and the evidence will be erased.
- Michael Cabanatuan
Copyright 2009 SF Chronicle
That's a really nifty idea. There is an app called iMapMyRide (associated with mapmyride.com) that does something similar. I use it instead of a traditional bike computer.
Although, it is missing the one feature that I'd really like -- to be able to give it a path and have it give me voice queues on when to turn, be cautious about traffic, etc.
But using that gathered information to to actually manage/predict traffic is a brilliant idea.
But using that gathered information to to actually manage/predict traffic is a brilliant idea.
A bit classist, tho 
Their data is definitely going to be skewed, but its nice to see the city devoting the resources to it.
Too bad they can't get a few loaner GPS trackers for volunteers....
The trouble is you have to actually want to participate and it drains your battery. My desire for using MapMyRide daily quickly went away when I would have to stand there waiting for my GPS to fire up and become accurate enough.
rsprake--
Yeah, that is a pain although it has gotten better with the more recent versions... I normally start the app the minute I take my bike down from its rack. (Or if I'm out and about when I start the unlocking process.) Usually by the time I'm actually on the bike and ready to go, it has acquired a signal.
That being said, if I ride for more than about 2.5 hours, my phone is dead... which is a major pain.
Its not a perfect solution by a long shot.
You need a generator and a charger circuit.
Ha! That would work.
I have thought about getting a solar charger and mounting it errr... somewhere (backpack?). But I'm not sure if there are enough sunny days to make it worth while. 
Is there any reason we couldn't use Bikely maps for the same purpose? Or Google Earth KMZ/KML files? I do this for some of my own rides already (nerd alert) and not surprisingly, see a lot of the same routes come up over and over again... no surprise when they're really near my house or key destinations, but in an aggregated form, it might provide some key data.
In a sense you are already providing some key data. When SPC completed the draft Allegheny County Bike Suitability Maps, they used bikely and other resources to identify roads that cyclists use frequently. The theory is that if cyclists "self-select" a route for repeated trips, it either indicates an important link (albeit potentially only to and from their home) or it is a better/more pleasant route than some alternatives. SPC then "shortlists" that route for further analysis in the bike suitability assessment process. SPC also consults Bikely and other resources (WPW maps, etc) when working with PennDOT to identify the need for bicycle accommodations on local roadways. A route that is identified on a bikely map is clear evidence that it is a route used by (a) cyclist. Absent any other information, it's evidence that bicycle accommodation needs to at least be considered.
The draft maps for Allegheny County and Greene County are available for review. Draft bike suitability maps for Indiana and Butler Counties should be available soon, all at http://www.spcregion.org/trans_pedbike_maps2.shtml
MotionX GPS does a stellar job of route tracking, exports to google, etc etc.
Heres the review on it I wrote for Macworld:
http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=84745
Swalfoort, so should I (we) then be entering in all our common routes into Bikely? Applying specific tags to them? If it's a route we take daily, can we "+1" the route to say we took the same route again? I'm not clear on how SPC is using these, and much less clear that Bikely routes are representative of the best/most common routes. In fact, based on what I've seen on the boards here, they're often used to illustrate how to make a not-obvious connection, rather than track routine routes we take, as is the idea with the San Francisco project.
There are a couple of ways that SPC uses the Bikely (and other mapped) data.
The first is to identify locations at which we might want to do a count of bicycle activity. If cyclists using a route that seems unusual, or appears on more than one map, SPC might put a person on the streetcorner to count how many other cyclists are out there. Local elected officials always want to know "how many cyclists are there?" when they are approached with bike infrastructure questions. It's a hard question to answer. Often, the response is simply evidence that cycling IS occurring, and certain specific areas are hotbeads that need and deserve priority attention.
The second is to work with PennDOT and other road sponsors in the design and implementation of bicycle and pedestrian accommodation in a particular roadway design project. For example, PennDOT has to complete a pedestrian-bicycle checklist for each (large) project that they do (routine maintenance is excluded). Neither they nor SPC can speak knowlegably about bicycle use on every road in the 7,000 square mile region. So, we seek input. Bikely maps, etc, might let them know that cyclists do use a certain road, or a portion of a certain road. It gives then the nudge, if you will, to look closer, and ask more question. Documentation is ALWAYS good when dealing with bureaucracy.
Finally, SPC is doing bike suitability maps of the counties that surround the City of Pittsburgh. Draft maps for Allegheny and Greene Counties are available for review and comment on the SPC website. Butler and Indiana County drafts should be up before the end of the year. In identifying local roads that are "bike friendly" SPC starts with the local cycling community, and asks their opinion. Data resources like Bikely are used to verify/augment the knowldge base of the local cyclists that have volunteered in these efforts.
SPC is ALWAYS looking for input on biking issues. The number of cyclists that are out there, and the routes/frequency that they use are the pieces of information that is most useful. If there is a way that you are compiling data on where you ride, or where you absolutely refuse to ride, SPC is interested. Let them know what methodology/mapping technology works for you. The intent is not to create more work, but to make better use of data that is already being created.
Check out the maps that have been completed. Leave your email address, and let us know if you have suggestions as to how we can make it easier for you to participate in these efforts.
P.S. SPC will be looking to start another county in early Spring. Beaver, Lawrence, Westmoreland, Washington, Armstrong and Fayette all remain to be done. If you belong to a cycling group in one of these counties, SPC would love to hear from you.
