New experimental website launched to track journeys in Oxfordshire in real time
Oxford’s cyclists, pedestrians, motorists and bus users can now view in real time how they are moving around Oxford’s streets thanks to a new website using data collected for Oxfordshire County Council and partners.
Oxbike.co.uk currently displays live maps derived from real time data that show the number of cyclists and other road users at cycling hotspots, live travel times on some of Oxford’s key routes, and the current and historic trends of vehicle numbers on Oxfordshire’s streets. The goal in sharing live data is to demonstrate how easy it is to get around the city by cycling. It will also show how quick cycle journeys can be and encourage people to travel by bike or park & pedal. By presenting data on an easy to use website powered by the [ui!] Urban Pulse data service, the council can now share information about cycling patterns across Oxford. New data sources and technology will be included on oxbike.co.uk when developed to allow residents and visitors to unlock the potential of emerging smart city technology.
Data currently displayed on oxbike.co.uk is collected by Vivacity Lab sensors on the main cycle routes in and around Oxford. The sensors use artificial intelligence that continuously captures, anonymises, and classifies live transport movement including cars, pedestrians, cyclists and buses. Data from the sensors has been used to help develop cycling and walking strategy and policy, understand how Covid-19 restrictions have affected use of public space and to support teams to secure further funding for active travel.
Oxbike is another example of the collaborative innovation work the Oxfordshire County Council iHub has been doing. The iHub builds relationships between the council, academia and business to develop, test and use technology to improve peoples’ lives and drive investment within the county. Since 2015, the iHub has supported over 60 innovation projects; working with partners to deliver projects in Oxfordshire with funding that has come from a range of sources such as Innovate UK, H2020 and Gov Tech.
Cllr Yvonne Constance, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for environment said:
“Oxbike is a welcome contribution to our travel and transport work as a county and will enable the council and partners to better understand journey data. This will play a particularly important role as the council looks to expand and develop an upgraded cycling infrastructure amid the recovery from the pandemic and as we look to implement ways to cut emissions and wider transport plans including bus gates for Oxford.”
Llewelyn Morgan, Head of Innovation at Oxfordshire County Council said:
“There has been a lot of expectation of the benefit of connected vehicles, which are now becoming prevalent on our roads. Oxfordshire is committed to be at the forefront of this through enabling applications that benefit our communities. This project will develop an important application by connecting data with smart infrastructure to help improve our knowledge of road use and safety on the road for all users.”
Mark Nicholson, Chief Executive of Vivacity Labs said:
"We're really excited to see the Oxbike website open up our data to the public and look forward to seeing how Oxbike can improve active travel around Oxfordshire."
Visit the site: www.oxbike.co.uk