cyclezen

I was recently reminded of using and participating in this resource - bikemaps.org
It should be a primary resource for EVERY cyclist - for information and participation.
Because it's so universal, this belongs in 'General', not just 'Advocacy & Safety'.
what it is:
"bikemaps.org a powerful tool collecting data from cyclists, pedestrians, runners, Strava, and more to create a better understanding of how we use our transportation infrastructure,
where it is hazardous, and how to improve it. Bikemaps is active in many places globally, available not only to people like us,
but also for government entities to promote positive changes." quote Steve Nelson
It collects and presents data which includes comments from the reporter on EACH incident, hazard or infrastructure noted, for precise geographical info on :
Citizen collision report
Citizen near miss report
Cyclist hazard
Bike theft
New infrastructure

Drilling down shows info for any area, globally, where you ride, preparing to ride or plan to visit. The data collection covers on-road and off-road info.
It does rely on participation for data collection, so the more we participate, the more comprehensive the source becomes.

I've done a BF search and it is mentioned in posts, but none really focus and explain it and it's importance.
So hoping we all become familiar with it, and in turn, make others aware of bikemaps.org
For BF Admins, I'm hoping that this thread can be made a 'Sticky' in 'General', it's an incredibly important resource !
Ride On
Yuri
The Founder of bikemaps.org is Trisalyn Nelson, Professor & Department Chair, Jack and Laura Dangermond Chair of Geography, UCSB

Joe Bikerider

Seems a little self serving to me. Ms. Nelson's chair is sponsored by the owners of ESRI the longtime leader in the field of computer mapping. Of course they want more people doing more mapping. I am old fashioned for sure, I usually find my way around by just riding and paying attention. I have found many interesting places without any mapping involved at all.

Black wallnut 

Looks pretty useless to me. The lack of data for my area means it has little value. I live in a small city. The locations of cycling v auto accidents are well known to the City.

cyclezen

A VERY large percentage of research done in our larger Academic institutions is done with money given from Private enterprise or the Gov. Much of which at some point becomes incorporated into our lives in some fashion. So this is hardly anything but 'The Usual'.
The fact is that Ms Nelson's work is based in data analytics for Urban Planning, in particular the transportation aspect, and in this specific case is in Cycling ( she's an active rider...), regardless of the use intent - commute or rec or whatever. Given that bicycle and cycling has hardly been a Hotbed of research, actually having very important work done in this area seems nothing but a 'Win'.
This work is self-fulfilling - we participate and the value of the info becomes more valuable/useful as more data is gathered. Less data and it is the opposite.As for knowledge of an area, say my area; I know I'm not all-knowing, nor omnipresent. I ride a lot, last year 274 hours; and that with 2.5 months of not being able to walk or ride. 88% of that riding was road. Yet I know there are many things and events which happen all over my area, for which I'm not present or aware of. And getting a 'near miss report' is as important as any report on actual mishaps.
If I put up an incident, it's not to my benefit, it's to the benefit of other riders to help them. A good thing in my mind.
But of course if one lives alone on an island, then this is prolly not for them..
Ride On
Yuri

Atlas Shrugged

Given the general attitudes on these forums and the demographics of the active participants you would have been better off promoting the idea of putting pins on a map at the local community centre. Thanks for the post.

indyfabz

I’ll choose my own resources, thank you very little.

rsbob 

Sorry but not going to join the Debbie Downer parade, but the mapping function is excellent for many rides out of my area I am interested in. Thanks for posting.

VegasJen

Sounds kind of sketchy to me. But thanks for the post anyway.

son_of_clyde

no thanks

RCMoeur 

I've had it in my bookmarks for several years, but haven't used it much. Fortunately, I haven't been involved in too many cycling incidents so I haven't had much to report - my most recent report submitted to that site was about a year ago when I came up on a rider hit in an intersection of a busy path with a collector street.

L134 

Interesting concept but I don't think it adds anything useful beyond what I can get from looking at biking heatmaps. Reviewing the incident reports in San Diego where I ride, the reported incidents were so few and the nature of them so random that they really provided no useful information. If I determine a certain road is more dangerous than I like, I avoid it and the heatmaps will reflect that without any comment or incident report. One of the extra benefits of using Strava is the effortless (because I would use it anyway for other reasons) contribution of my data. Systemic issues (potholes, overgrown bike lanes, ineffective traffic light sensors, etc.) can be reported online directly to the city and they do address them with surprising speed.

skye

rude. what's wrong with informing others about this resource?

indyfabz

Telling others that they should participate is rude.

He could have written “Hey, people. Here’s a resource that I like and you might too. Check it out.”

But he didn’t write that. Get it?

Maelochs

So .... does the handle "Cyclezen" indicate that you have perfected the Zen of Cycling or that you are a citizen of a bicycle?


Sorry not to be doing my duty ... I am too tired to day to get pointlessly irritated by an insignificant word choice int he title of one of thousands of threads on a website. Hopefully I will find the energy to be righteously indignant tomorrow.

I do think that for areas where not many people ride, it serves little purpose, and I ma not sure reporting near misses is valuable.

An instance; There is a curve i ride pretty much every time I ride lately, and have ridden countless times (since I ride from home, heading out, there are a limited number of roads leading outbound ... the closer to home, the more likely a road will be included in that day's ride.)

This particular curve is semi-blind for drivers, yet not exceedingly sharp---it is a steady sweeper---which means speeds can be high but visibility Seems okay .... I usually take the lane ahead of the apex (the last spot I am sure cars behind can see my move) particularly if there is oncoming traffic. I am sure we have all seen that sometimes drivers focus on passing the dratted cyclist ahead, and forget to look at onrushing automobiles also ahead ......

In a one-week period ... i first had a car pass me very late and totally in the oncoming lane (I took the lane, heard the car speeding up, drifted further left so there was no way to pass me ... ) and as always signaled to the car behind to slow down because I could see a few cars approaching int he other lane. The driver ignored me and moved totally into the oncoming lane and suddenly found himself confronted with another car, coming head on.

The oncoming driver moved far right and the overtaking driver cut hard right (I had already bailed ... I dove hard right and slowed when I saw the car was intent on overtaking) and the two missed by wheat looked like ten but might have been 15 feet ... which is pretty freaking close considering the oncoming car was probably doing 45 and the overtaking car was going considerably faster.

I challked it up to stupid human tricks ... and a few days later another car tired exactly the same maneuver in exactly the same place, but traveling faster and overtaking later. This time the two cars came much closer to colliding, with the oncoming car forced completely off the road (and with a stone wall, trees, and power poles, the driver was exceedingly lucky to find room to pull over.) I was truly surprised no one hit anyone or anything.

Of course, both incidents happened 20 yards ahead of me as the cars were traveling quickly and I always brake hard and head for the edge when I see idiots overtaking ..... there might have been a chance that a spinning, wrecked car could have entered my path even if I had ridden right off the road onto the grass, but that would be a ten-thousand-to-one shot---I was never really in danger.

So ... do i report this as a pair of near misses? I have had some close calls--inches from disaster close calls---which I would call "near misses." In these cases I just had a front-row seat to a pair of bad driving performances. Should I call it a "dangerous" corner. I have been riding that road for about twenty years and those were by far the worst incidents I saw .... Would I be doing my fellow cyclists a disservice if I reported it, or more of one if I didn't?

It is actually (IMO) a perfectly pleasant stretch of road which connects a lot of really pleasant stretches of road, with decent scenery, some bike lanes, good pavement, and is almost essential if one wants to get to other, better riding roads beyond. I like the road so much is is part of my "basic ride" which i ride on those days when I don't have time or energy to plan something exciting but just need some time on the bike. it is also one of the few stretches of road where I ever see other cyclists (though rarely ... not a lot out where I live I guess.)

So .... how do I and this app interact regarding these incidents and this road? How can I help "My Fellow Cyclists" in this specific situation?

Nothing against this app .... but if it is causing consternation before I even visit its website .....

kcjc

I am surprised that it doesn't comb through police incident reports for California, considering the requirements of the Public Records Act and the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance, and make them available. No ideal on the interoperability but most use ESRI for posting. It is interesting but not for me.

badger1

Nothing wrong with "informing" others about a resource.

What is very off-putting in this instance is the breathless -- some might argue uncritical -- enthusiasm with which this infomercial is infused and the injunctive language that is used.

Can't speak for others, but I for one don't particularly like being told -- by someone I don't know -- what I "should" (or shouldn't) do. That sort of thing is of course common over in A&S, which is precisely where this little piece of puffery belongs.