How can an already bike-friendly city such as Copenhagen entice even more of its citizens to ride? A research group led by Carlo Ratti of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s SENSEable City Lab hopes to find out by distributing smart tags to cyclists that track the routes they take and allow them to connect with one another.
Together Copenhagen and M.I.T. will distribute by November about 1,000 smart tags, each costing less than $30 and subsidized by the research group, so riders will have been using them for a time before the United Nations Climate Change Conference hosted by the city in December. As cyclists whiz past wireless hotspots, the tags will register passage, tracking bike routes taken. Back home, riders will be able to log on to Facebook to find out which other riders crossed their path that day, as well as to see who has accrued the most miles—a kind of friendly competition.
Wider use of tags could help spur a city’s population to bike more instead of drive. And by examining where people are actually riding, Copenhagen could decide where to put bike lanes and monitor where bike congestion occurs. The city would receive only aggregated data to protect privacy, says Christine Outram, a researcher at the M.I.T. lab.
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7 Comments
Add CommentThis sounds like a great use for technology. It's practical, interactive, and progressive. I'd like to see this done in other cities (especially Seattle and its surrounding area).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA very simple idea which would be also be extremely useful to track a stolen bike if low tech / battery friendly enough, as well as a simple personal trainer.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA very simple idea which would be also be extremely useful to track a stolen bike if low tech / battery friendly enough, as well as a simple personal trainer.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAn RFID tag would work as well (just like in a dog or cat). Not sure if the RFID would "broadcast" through a metal frame bike...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisActually it's quite simple to work out where to put good quality cycling provision. Start by assuming it's needed everywhere. That's what has been done here in the Netherlands, where we have the highest cycling rate in the world, over half of all journeys in some cities are by bike here.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is awesome idea. I live in Daytona and there are not many bike lanes here. The city has been talking about putting in lanes for years but don't want to put them where they are not needed. I really like this idea; very practical
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would like to point out that as a former resident of Copenhagen, where the bike lanes are in fact a second sidewalk, I'm a little confused about how this project would help city planners develop more bike lanes. They're not, perhaps, everywhere, but they're on most major roads connecting Copenhagen suburbs with the downtown city centre.
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