BiciZen is a collaborative platform that aims to make city regions more bikeable. The platform allows users to share data and information about cycling. For example, cyclists can share info about bicycle parking, theft, safety, conflicts with other road users, or obstructions in cycle paths. It also allows cyclists to make suggestions for improvements to cycling infrastructure and report positive cycling experiences. The platform may also be used by activists, city planners and researchers who would like to document and study cycling phenomena. The data collected on the BiciZen platform provides a permanent and long-term record of cycling related issues and phenomena. Moreover, this data is open and free for anyone to use. More information at bicizen.org.

Over the past two years, BiciZen has evolved from a concept into a dynamic and collaborative platform, with the mission of enhancing urban cycling experiences across city regions. Our journey began as a dedicated team of urban planners, geographers, engineers, and computer scientists, driven by the vision of facilitating urban mobility, encouraging public engagement, and promoting cycling as a sustainable mode of transportation. Building on this foundation, we developed a citizen science platform that empowers cyclists by providing them with valuable travel information while simultaneously supporting cities in their transition towards a low-carbon, bike-friendly future.

Our initial concept proposed the creation of an intuitive crowdsourcing tool that would bridge the gap between cyclists, local and regional governance, and researchers, enabling users to contribute geo-located commentary, experiences, photos, and data regarding cycling infrastructure. The focus remained on aspects critical to cyclists, such as cycle path maintenance, bike parking, and the prevention of theft. Throughout this journey, we expanded our horizons, mobilizing the European cycling community to uncover insights and patterns in bike movements, road conditions, parking availability, and theft, fostering a sense of collective responsibility. BiciZen is now a beacon for cyclists, city planners, activists, and researchers alike, serving as a dynamic repository of cycling-related information that is open and accessible to all, fostering a more bikeable urban landscape. Explore the transformative potential of BiciZen at bicizen.org as we continue our commitment to sustainable urban mobility and community engagement.

The project was conceived in February 2022 during a co-creation workshop organized by ECIU SMART-ER. Two months later, the team won the seed funding call from ECIU to pilot the idea. The team meet for the first time in Barcelona during a three-day event in May 2022, a period used to organize a design thinking workshop with local stakeholders.

During the summer of 2022, the team focused on engaging with local stakeholders (In Aveiro, Barcelona, Enschede and Tampere), and in determining the best development option.  It was finally decided to outsource the development of the app, that started in November 2022.

The first version of the app was released in February 2023, and after revising it collaboratively with local stakeholders, the development of version 2 started.

The app was officially released the 5th of June, and the reaction was higher than the expected. The week after the launch, the team participated in la festa de la ciència & la festa de la bici.

After the summer of 2023, we participated in the parking day, and collaborated with BACC using BiciZen to collect data on bicycle path maintenance in Barcelona (Pedala & Reporta).

You can find all the blog posts related to BiciZen at the bottom of the page.

On 12-13 May 2022 we held the kick-off meeting of the citizen science project on urban cycling funded by the ECIU SMART-ER program. The meeting consisted of an internal strategic planning session for the research teams from Aveiro, Barcelona, Dublin, Tampere and Twente. On Day 2 of the workshop, we organised a design thinking workshop with stakeholders (n=25) to help define stakeholder needs and receive feedback on initial ideas about the collaborative platform. The workshop assessed three realms of data collection and citizen science collaboration: (1) cycle path infrastructure, (2) bicycle parking and theft, (3) citizen empowerment and engagement. Results show that stakeholders are most interested in information about cycle routes and cycling infrastructure. The graphs below show some of the results of the workshop.