Use of technology to improve bicycle mobility in smart cities

In the past few decades there has been a significant growth in cycling and the use of bicycles as a transportation mode and beyond recreational use. Technological advancements along with mobile phones and web platforms can aid bicyclists while considering and planning their routes. Moreover, the vast data that can be generated, and thus collected, from smartphones can provide a database that can be used to develop a systematic evaluation of potential routes and provide meaningful information to the bicyclists. Several of these technologies are based on self-monitoring efforts and sharing experiences among bicyclists but they do not provide a systematic and objective evaluation of the infrastructure. Throughout the world, transportation agencies are promoting bicycling as a serious alternative transportation option, since it provides health benefits and reduces carbon emissions and congestion. It is imperative then that transportation agencies can provide an appropriate infrastructure in order to encourage the continued growth of bicycling. The current technological tools can aid in data collection but what is currently lacking is a systematic, objective review of such information that a transportation agency can use aiming to assess existing infrastructure and develop an action plan to complete and improve it. Transportation agencies require information about their facilities and the use of technology can provide such data in order to better estimate needs and develop an action plan. This paper reviews existing such platforms and applications under the premise of developing a systematic review and an objective performance index for bicycling infrastructure.