Strava entering the Transport planning service market
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Strava Metro
(18 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
-
It's interesting to see that Strava, an American app, is so popular in the UK and Benelux.
http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#3/-87.43916/45.92241/blue/bike
Posted 11 years ago # -
Those heatmaps are fascinating. I've just spent a happy few minutes looking at all the activity on Corstorphine Hill and the Hermitage (interesting how that one is a bit vaguer, presumably because of problems getting a GPS fix in the valley).
One thing, though, is that this only speaks for Strava users who, almost by definition, will tend to be a particularly keen subset of the cycling population. Just because it shows a sizeable population riding straight along the A8 at the Gogar Roundabout doesn't mean that's a 'normal' thing to do.
Posted 11 years ago # -
You can see Glentress & Innerleithen quite nicely too...
Posted 11 years ago # -
If really like them to split their global heat ap between road and mountain bikes. It might then give some idea of surface suitability
Posted 11 years ago # -
What might be more useful for plotting human movement of non-Athletes is that location data smartphones were logging. Harvest it, anonymise it, sprinkle on few algorithms to determine the transit mode...
Posted 11 years ago # -
Apparently many people have ascended Ben Nevis on a bike.
http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#14/-5.03166/56.79935/blue/bike
I find this hard to believe!
Posted 11 years ago # -
We had this before when activity was in red and there was a streak from London to dunwich at 3a.m.
Is it population density only? Most of France and Germany empty. Is it English speaking plus holidays? But then Benelux and Italy.
Is it phone companies?
Posted 11 years ago # -
data from smartphones cannot be differentiated by mode of transport, a single person on a car would have the same trace as somebody on a bus.
This further move from Strava can be more useful than heatmaps. Activities also have an information of gender and age attached to it beside time and speed in the same point.
Comparing it with the progress of the bike counter on MMW can give a better understanding of commuting in Edinburgh.Posted 11 years ago # -
The heatmap is interesting, I am surprised at the number of traces on the NEPN. It does imply that either people keep strava on all the time, or that an awful lot of people are strava-ing a shared use path. Hope it isn't the latter, although it explains a lot if that is the case.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@stiltskin, you don't ride with Strava on or off. You ride with a GPS enabled device recording your ride. Then, if you like, you can upload that trace to Strava. Strava will display your route on a map. It will also compute how your speed on any segments you have ridden compares to the speed recorded by others.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@stiltskin: I ride with Strava 'on all the time' in the sense that I record all my rides on my Garmin and upload them to Strava. I'm not racing in any sense though, and rarely compare my times with others'. I just find it a useful way to track distances and times (being a professional data geek).
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Kenny Strava promotes itself as for recording running and cycling. May well be a few fell runners going up BN, or the odd walker.
Just because it shows a sizeable population riding straight along the A8 at the Gogar Roundabout doesn't mean that's a 'normal' thing to do.
However, Strava users are likely to be the ballsier/more foolhardy* types who choose to take the shortest and fastest route (cf, the A8) that other less ballsy/foolhardy* cyclists might like to take, if only there were some proper infrastructure for them.
*delete as appropriate to fit your stereotype
Posted 11 years ago # -
@PS - but the map linked to is one for biking, not running; I can only assume people are logging their hill walking as biking by accident?
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Kenny Ah, didn't see that. Good chance of that, there's a flick you switch to say what sort of activity it is.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@PS I don't think Strava user are more risk taker than the average 30 male. Checking the heatmap of the A8 you can see the proportion of cyclist that use path vs the ones that use the road. Gogar station road is an example of how many user choose the long detour instead of cutting straight west. Same for the RBS entrance.
I was commuting to the airport years. 9 times out of 10 I preferred to arrive safe than trying a PR and I would still log it.Posted 11 years ago # -
@robyvecchio True. But if there's still "a sizeable proportion" riding the A8, and that is seen as a dangerous road, then it might suggest that the appropriate response is to install some segregated cycle lanes?
All this does, however, suggest that human intelligence will need to be applied if this data is to be used to inform transport infrastructure planning. God help us. ;-)
Posted 11 years ago # -
"
Strava Metro, the urban data service from the Strava fitness and networking app, has been made free for cities. Strava was founded in San Francisco in 2009—it released Strava Metro in 2014."Posted 4 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
