Dublin City Council has launched a new app developed to use cyclists’ shared data to identify cycling routes in the city for development and upgrade.
Dublin Cycling Buddy is available to download now and has been created through the Smart City Programme as part of the Smart Dublin Initiative.
Dublin cyclists will be the first in Ireland to access the app which was developed by Prague-based company Umotional, a winner at the 2019 Velo-City Smart Pedal Pitch Challenge.
Umotional’s original Prague cycling app has over 20,000 users and a rating of 4.7 stars in the Google Play Store, making it one of the highest-rated cycle apps globally.
The Dublin Cycling Buddy app has “smart” capabilities that will use ‘ride data’ and comments logged by users to continually present data to city officials to help direct investment and route improvements across the city.
“The Dublin Cycling Buddy app is a great resource for people just starting out and needing guidance, as well as veteran cyclists alike,” said Lord Mayor Hazel Chu launching the app today. “This will also boost our post-Covid recovery, with residents and workers getting more active and carbon-free.”
“The app offers Dublin’s cyclists a smarter way to engage with the Council and build a community of cyclists, as well as share trip information and advice on safer routes,” said Dublin City Council CEO Owen Keegan.
“This will help inform our investment priorities and also help us measure the impact of current investments across the city.”
Dublin Cycling Buddy users will also get access to information from Dublin City Council and Dublin Cycle Campaign on new initiatives and investments in cycle infrastructure in the city council area.
It will provide the best routes for trips, real-time information on the Now TV Dublin Bike service, and cycle parking availability, as well as and opening up participation in city challenges and competitions, effectively gamifying the use of the app to increase the amount of available data.
To coincide with the official launch of the Dublin Cycling Buddy app and lifting of restrictions, the Lord Mayor also announced a ‘Cycle Around Dublin’ challenge. Participants are encouraged to cycle to as many as 15 locations all across Dublin city, and Dublin county, with prizes up for grabs.
Research conducted by Sport Ireland at the height of the pandemic showed over 510,000 people across Ireland had begun cycling at least once a week as a form of exercise, compared with only 260,000 people at the same time in 2019.
In July 2020, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council built a new cycleway in response to the 100 per cent increase in people cycling during the COVID-19 restrictions. This shift towards cycling has highlighted the importance of the Dublin Cycle Buddy app.
“The app with localised customisations is designed to be the go-to place for the wider cycling community in Dublin,” said Jan Nykl, Product Architect at Umotional.
“We were delighted to win the Smart Cycle Tech Challenge as part of Velo-City 2019. Through the participation of Dublin’s cycling community, this app will crowd-source critical information to provide more ‘localised’ and accurate routing data, helping Dublin City Council create a safer and more bike-friendly environment for all.”
Dublin City Council is a Partner of Sport for Business and one of more than 250+ members of the Sport for Business network of sporting and business organisations working together across a number of key areas.
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