In April 2015 GoBike! presented to the Glasgow Cycling Forum, chaired by Councillor Frank McAveety (now leader of Glasgow City Council) an analysis of Strava data showing where people who use Strava to record their journeys actually cycle. In our view, if this is where people already cycle, then providing good cycle facilities will encourage more people to cycle.
Glasgow City Council response 2 years ago? Hmm, interesting, but isn’t it only men in lycra obsessed with speed who use Strava? We prefer to use “Census and Scottish Household Survey data which includes cycling related questions”.
Hmm, we thought this was interesting too, especially since the Strava data correlates well with the City’s own cordon count data! So, what have we done? We have now added last year’s European Cycling Challenge data, generously provided by the City Council, to our analysis and, hey presto, we have good correlation and a pattern emerging. People cycle on radial routes into Glasgow and they don’t just stop cycling where a cycle route ends!
What have we done with this latest analysis? We presented it to the Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf, on 21 February, and he was very impressed with this data – an analysis he had not seen before! Apparently Transport Scotland prefer to use a “Cycling Potential Tool”, rather than actual data!
We now come to this year’s European Cycling Challenge and we hope that, further to our earlier post, you have all signed up? Here’s what Glasgow City Council are now saying about the data that will be generated: “Don’t forget, all your recorded routes help all the local authorities improve existing and plan new routes. So record all your journeys whether cycling to the station, to work or just out for a pootle.”
Aha, so it’s not just about another accolade for Glasgow – and all the surrounding local authorities who are joining in this year – but the data might actually be used!
If you haven’t signed up for the challenge, please do so now, and remember that it was GoBike who brought about this change, so do join us – it’s easy to do, just use this link: https://www.gobike.org/join-go-bike