Strava moves into 'big data' - London & Glasgow already signed up to find out where cyclists ride

It looks Strava released a new FAQ about the data: http://metro.strava.com/faq/ . I think before I make any large leaps about what this data represents i might wait to actually see what the data is. To me it looks like an amazing opportunity to get ALL cyclists represented. I mean you can say Strava is only racers or you join and start to make your voice heard.

Ride on.

Quote:

College road in Dulwich is used by all types of riders on the morning commute and is represented by a big thick orange line. It's also not somewhere that Lycra louts generally go on their weekend jollys.

Actually it is - a huge number of S. London based cyclists ride up that to meet at Crystal Palace on a weekend and also ride along that road to access Herne Hill Velodrome.

Speculating on what the data does or doesn't show isn't particularly helpful. I'd guess that this is the first step in Strava making their data available and this is just a massive data dump to attract attention (and therefore ££) from potential buyers. In it's raw form it's probably not *that* useful - after all I'd be willing to bet that very few casual commuters use Strava - but I reckon if you combine Strava with the heatmaps that have already been done on the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, then work that in with traffic cameras, known accident blackspots, mainline stations, the congestion charge zone etc, it could actually be very useful.

If it shows where cyclists actually ride - direct main road routes - rather than where TfL hopes they ride - hopelessly indirect back street 'quietways' - then it will have achieved something, encouraging investment where cycling is already happening.

Space Syntax has also done independent research showing where cyclists actually ride:

http://www.spacesyntax.com/project/encouraging-cycling-in-central-london/

And surprise surprise, it's NOT on quiet back streets. Space for cycling needs to be provided on the main roads where most cyclists ride. If that includes the main road I ride along on Sunday morning, so much the better.

I think the data will be useful (certainly in London), the ability to select times will show some interesting patterns.
For example it may show that a lot of cyclists are not using a crap cycling facility and staying with the road instead, showing that the facility needs improvement.

Most of the utility cyclist I know in London also use Strava, not just the people going on training rides.
Strava users will tend to be younger (but that is always the case with new technology), but younger riders do make up the majority on London's roads.

I love that we are all speculating on what the data can or cannot show, without access to that data, or any demographics of Strava users what so ever!

What is likely, is that this probably represents some of the largest and most detailed datasets on riding ever collected, and there will undoubtedly be value that can be gleaned from this. I would be shocked if any other studies will have been able to GPS track a group of cyclists on anything like the scale Strava has.

In Cambridge, some routes that are known for commuter cycling congestion are very, very faint. Whilst routes that are known to have almost no commuting are very, very bright.

Great that Strava are pushing these towards councils - HIGHLY COMMENDED !!!

Well, this is just fantastic for quite a few reasons:
1) I commute a lot from London City to Essex. This was a great way to find out if there are other "secret" routes I have not considered.
2) It quickly points out that the main roads in outer London are heavily used by bikes and the back roads are not. I.e. where to focus the investment. I'm talking about examples like the Bow interchange/flyover and other routes near Canary Wharf.

This is the case that a picture is better than a thousand words.

Now lets use this to get the cycling routes sorted out/maintained.

So are people saying that commuters who strava to work pick different routes through London than commuters who dont?

Garbage in, garbage out. You only have to look at Strava's "heat map" across northern Europe to see what garbage it produces. It suggests that the UK is a more active cycling nation than the Netherlands which is palpable nonsense. I even suggests that there is more cycling in the UK - by a wide margin - than in France, and even at the level of weekend sports riding that is a nonsense as anyone who has driven a French road can attest.

Lord help us if this rubbish gets used to inform local authority investment decisions.

Excellent another 'big data' story. I look forward to someone trying to sell me totally irrelevant products whilst I am cycling along trying to concentrate on the roads. Maybe the ambulance chasers will be the first ones to take up the new advertising opportunity...

My various commuting routes all look popular on the map which seems about right to me.

Interesting that Herne hill velodrome and the crystal palace crits are shown, I guess these activities occur around commuting time.

I've just wasted five minutes looking at that heat map again. Interesting to see where people are going and what sort of level of cycling warrants what depth of heat... looking at my folks house, I know I will be the only person using their driveway, and despite two years of strava fun, it barely resonates on the map.

Quite fun to look at though.

Fascinating stuff. Given that the data will include time as well as location, I don't think it matters that the majority of the data might be distorted in favour of segment-chasers - by extracting the information of the slowest 10% at prime commuting times, I'd imagine authorities will achieve a fairly accurate snapshot.

I live 20 mile outside of Glasgow although there are many roads that are favoured by cyclists, some of the best roads are less popular.

I'm also not fond of The National Cycle Path with it's tree roots poking through the concrete, excess gravel, the sewage plant and the remnants of the Buckfast fuelled nights left nearby.

Local authorities should be providing cycling facilities useable by those covered by the snappy phrase "from Eight to Eighty".

Do eight year old kids use Strava en masse?

Do eighty year olds use Strava en masse?

Can we trust local authorities to use this information from Strava to cater for those groups?

Local authorities will use this information to make lazy decisions and back them up when they install piss poor facilities.

First let me say I log everything on Strava which I think is a bit sad, hay ho so is wearing tights in you mid forties ... Joking aside, sharing of people's personal data with corporate anyone, always makes me worry. Put in the hands of say the Daily Nail ha ha and I'm sure the information could be used against riders, also will it mean the less used routes (by strava riders) will be neglected. Perhaps it would be better to make non car infrastructure a priority. I know I'm dreaming about that. I honestly don't see most authorities using the data for good.... I only seem to hear how evil cyclists are these days. It's not convenient to admit we take cars off the road, safety for pedestrians and the environment. This will be ignored to point out riders going on pavement or the wrong way on one way ect.

Bloody cyclists!!!

Strava is the devils own... Turning the wonderful act of riding alone or with mates into mindless willy waving.

If any policy or data is used from that source, then it's study and use is to highlight the preferences and activities of mindless willy wavers in society.

(God I'm getting old and grumpy)

It's a pretty clever move by them, whether or not the data gets used well by councils etc remains to be seen, but providing it is an extra revenue source that I can see anywhere that talks about improving cycling will be almost 'required' to invest in in order to show that they are investigating cycling usage. I'm sure in a short space of time there will be more 'ordinary' cyclists using strava as it gets promoted by groups who have made the investment in the data.

I only record my longer "lycra" rides on Strava. All my commuting, shopping and city riding is done without.

Good move Strava, great little company.