The same week that the New York Police Department released a boat load of data about traffic collisions comes news that exercise app Strava will sell its data on the how, where, and when bikers and runners use streets.
"On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based company launched Strava Metro, which provides data from 90 million bike rides and 24 million runs as of this week — the byproduct of virtual competitions around the world — to help urban planners understand how and where cyclists use public streets," reports Reed Albergotti.
"The first customer, Oregon’s Department of Transportation, is paying $20,000 to use the data for a year. Strava also signed up London; Glasgow; Orlando, Fla.; and Alpine Shire in Victoria, Australia."
Albergotti cites an anecdote shared by Margi Bradway, a policy analyst for the Oregon DOT, who discovered that her friends would use the app even more if they knew planners were using it to make data-driven decisions. In fact, "[in] the past six months, Oregon has used the Strava data to determine where cyclists have trouble figuring out traffic patterns, and to find the best way to install rumble strips on a road outside Portland that is popular with cyclists."
FULL STORY: Strava, Popular With Cyclists and Runners, Wants to Sell Its Data to Urban Planners
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research