Bicycle mayor undertakes crowdsourcing exercise to map cycling amenities in Chennai
Ateam from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is developing an app called Stride which facilitates walking and cycling in Chennai. Felix John, the Bicycle Mayor of Chennai, who has collaborated with the team for the project, tells us, “We are trying to map cycling amenities like small or large cycle repair shops, rental, retail and puncture shops in any street in Chennai. It is a crowdsourcing exercise and the data gathered will be utilised to provide better services for cyclists in the city. We are providing data to the Corporation who can make data-driven decisions,” Felix John informs DT Next.
When quizzed about how the app will help cyclists, Felix reverts, “For eg, only if there are a lot of cyclists, there will be a puncture shop. When the Corporation knows that data, it can facilitate slow zones in such areas. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs came up with this idea and as the Bicycle Mayor of Chennai, I am collaborating with them. We don’t have this type of aggregated data. In the next phase, we are planning to map cycling routes in Chennai. Then the app will help commuters to choose the cycling paths or select alternative routes according to the traffic, etc.”
Anyone can participate in this campaign — one has to tag any cycling amenities he/she comes across during everyday commute. “So far, we have mapped 120+ locations in the city, The exercise will end on February 28.”