Give a beep…

Monday, 26 September, 2016

Give a beep is a great example of citizen science, geographically volunteered information and the ability of everyday “users” to influence politicians. Cycling is big in London - very big. Wikipedia shows the number of journeys per day doubling between 1999 and 2014 (over 600,000) with the ratio of cars to bikes dropping from 17:1 to 1.7:1 by 2016. Cycling is quicker, cheaper, healthier… and enjoyable. Why drive? Well, one aspect is safety. As Wikipedia again show, recorded accidents have dropped for the first time in 2014 and whilst relatively low the fear of an accident is a big part of this.

Enter Hovding (yes, those of bike airbag fame), ably assisted by the London Cycling Campaign, have teamed up to find out where and when people feel unsafe. Using the low cost, low power, Flic (how many uses can you think of for this little puppy?!), mount it on your bike, pair the low-power Bluetooth button with you phone and then, every time you hit the button it sends an email to the Mayor of London with you location and time. And, by also storing that information online they produced an interactive map of “fear”.

OK, the mapping is nothing to shout home about (seriously Hovding…. can we move away from the yellow meme??) but the simplicity of use and application to a real world issue where cyclists can genuinely feedback in to policy is great.

After the initial trial of 500 users is being rolled out to anyone wanting to use it - just buy a flic and give-a-beep (how long before every taxi has a jump-the-light flic for reporting cyclists!!).

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