Dublin, Thursday, 20th May 2021 – Dublin Cycle Buddy, the new cycling community app developed to help Dublin City Council use cyclists’ shared data to identify cycling routes in the city for development and upgrade, has officially launched. The app launched by Dublin City Council’s Smart City Programme is part of the Smart Dublin Initiative.
Dublin cyclists will be the first in Ireland to access the app which was developed by Prague-based company Umotional, a winner at the 2019 Velo-City Smart Pedal Pitch Challenge. Umotional’s original Prague cycling app has over 20,000 users and a rating of 4.7 stars in the Google Play Store, making it one of the highest rated cycle apps globally.
The Dublin Cycle Buddy app has “smart” capabilities that will support Dublin’s growing cycling community, which has seen significant growth during COVID-19 restrictions. Building on ‘ride data’ and comments logged by users, it will continually present data to city officials to help direct investment and route improvements across the city, as well as continually improve the algorithm’s ability to suggest safer and quieter cycling routes in Dublin.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu, was introduced to the app earlier this year and said,
“The Dublin Cycling Buddy app is a great resource for people just starting out and needing guidance, as well as veteran cyclists alike. This will also boost our post-Covid recovery, with residents and workers getting more active and carbon free.”
Owen Keegan, Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, stated,
“The app offers Dublin’s cyclists a smarter way to engage with the Council, build a community of cyclists, as well as share trip information and advice on safer routes. This will help inform our investment priorities and also help us measure the impact of current investments across the city.”
Dublin Cycle Buddy users will also get access to information from Dublin City Council and Dublin Cycle Campaign on new initiatives and investments on cycle infrastructure in the city council area.
Users can also find the best routes for trips, provide community feedback, participate in city challenges and competitions, win prizes, as well as access hints and tips for better cycling in Dublin. Dublin Cycle Buddy also includes real time data on all of Dublin’s bike-sharing options, and shows locations of cycle parking across the city.
Lord Mayor’s ‘Cycle Around Dublin’ Challenge
To coincide with the official launch of the Dublin Cycling Buddy app and lifting of restrictions, the Lord Mayor is glad to announce her ‘Cycle Around Dublin’ challenge. Participants are encouraged to cycle to as many as 15 locations all across Dublin city, and Dublin county, with prizes up for grabs. Download the app to find out more.
Research conducted by Sport Ireland at the height of the pandemic showed over 510,000 people across Ireland had begun cycling at least once a week as a form of exercise, compared with only 260,000 people at the same time in 2019. In July 2020, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council built a new cycleway in response to the 100% increase in people cycling during the COVID-19 restrictions. This shift towards cycling has highlighted the importance of the Dublin Cycle Buddy app.
Describing the purpose of the app, Jan Nykl, Product Architect at Umotional stated,
“The app with localised customisations is designed to be the go-to place for the wider cycling community in Dublin. We were delighted to win the Smart Cycle Tech Challenge as part of Velo-City 2019. Through the participation of Dublin’s cycling community, this app will crowdsource critical information to provide more ‘localised’ and accurate routing data, helping Dublin City Council create a safer and more bike-friendly environment for all.”
Colm Ryder, Chairperson of Cyclists.ie said,
“We’re delighted to be supporting the use of this app after seeing its success at the Velo-city 2019 conference. It will be helpful for cyclists to get specialised routes for safer cycling. The games and leaderboards are also a nice touch for the cycling community.”
The Dublin Cycle Buddy mobile app is now available for download in both the Google Play and Apple App stores.
