Imagine Seattle as a place where transportation planners and bicycle advocates could see exactly where people who bike are going and where safe connections between communities are lacking. A Seattle where bike data helps influence decisions and helps planners learn from successes and mistakes.
Well, that imagined Seattle is just around the corner, thanks to the Seattle Department of Transportation’s recent investment in Strava Metro and the GPS data that feeds it.
Strava is a very popular mobile app and online platform that lets users track their bike rides using a smartphone or GPS device. In addition to tracking your activity, it allows you to analyze your performance while also competing with fellow users.
According to Strava’s Brian Riordan, approximately 3 percent of the Seattle population is already using Strava to track their bike rides and 60 percent of Seattle Strava uploads are commute trips.
What was once just a social platform for racer-types, Strava has grown popular among commuters and is now a powerful tool for transportation planners and bicycle advocates.
The data obtained through the Strava app and website powers Strava Lab’s free bike route data feed as well as Strava Metro, which provides agencies like SDOT with detailed, granular data for true traffic planning capabilities. Cascade will also benefit from access to this data and we’re excited to put it to work!
Strava Metro is a service made for and used by transportation departments and bike advocacy groups like us across the world. On this side of the globe, San Francisco, Maine and Ontario are already using it. Seattle is ripe for the picking as we have 11,000 Strava users who have already tracked 259,000 bike trips, of which 117,000 were commute trips.
As more people join Strava and use it for everyday use, the better the data becomes. This data in turn is a crucial piece in advocating for a safe and connected Seattle. And that’s where you come in!
Join Strava and join Cascade’s Strava Club. Your participation will enable data-driven decision making and inform our city’s future bike infrastructure needs.
Beyond this benefit, I personally love the social aspect of this app as my wife and I give each other kudos for our commute trips and discover new bike routes of the friends, co-workers and fellow Cascade members I follow!
For those of us who just wrapped up May’s Bike Month Challenge presented by Adobe, join us on the Strava Cascade Club and keep logging those miles!
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