The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) conducted a project, with project funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to develop implementation strategies to increase the usage of a citizen web-mapping surveillance tool to report bicycle crashes and evaluate this tool. The objective of this project was to promote and encourage safe and accessible bicycling and healthy living. The BikeMaps.org project was conducted in partnership with the Spatial Pattern Analysis and Research Laboratory (SPAR) at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The project included pilots of the tool in several sites, and also focused on aspects of transferability of lessons learned to other fields, like walking and the development of walkability scores. The publicly provided data from this tool help supplement official collision data sources and is analyzed in conjunction to identify hotspots with higher incidents of certain types of reports.
Now more than ever, Canadians appreciate the benefits of getting outside, being active, and exploring alternate options for commuting or getting around town. Cities are reassessing the status quo to provide their community members with enhanced options for walking and cycling. It’s a complex process, and in addition to community feedback, data is essential to proposing a well-informed plan. BikeMaps.org is the first of its kind online geo-mapping reporting system designed to collect data on cycling incidents using the power of crowdsourcing, where data is voluntarily submitted by the public through the internet. This technology was implemented and evaluated in nine Canadian cities across five provinces and the Yukon: Victoria, Ottawa, Edmonton, Guelph, St. John’s, Lethbridge, Kelowna, Whitehorse and Winnipeg. BikeMaps.org is also available worldwide with over 9,300 reports submitted from riders in over 40 countries, including Iceland, Germany and Australia.
TIRF has now released, BikeMaps.org – Final report on the evaluation of a crowdsourced tool to compile, analyze and communicate data about cycling safety, available below for download in English and French.
Access BikeMaps.org.
