Cycling for Everyone
Cycling for Everyone

Cycling & Technology

Cycling and Technology has many aspects. The most visible aspect nowadays being the e-bike. The e-bike is increasingly popular in the Netherlands as it allows people of all ages to cycle and to cycle over longer distances. E-bikes can replace cars for trips up to 15km for example for commuting distances. Electric cargo-bikes can replace many van deliveries, especially within built up city centers. Another aspect of Cycling and Technology is the collection and sharing of data. The data can be collected through bike counting systems that detect speed and type of bicycle as well. These systems can monitor popular travel times, routes, and intersections. When cycle paths are too busy, it becomes too dangerous and municipalities can intervene accordingly. Digital Twin Cities provide useful information as well to create better cycling networks and understanding cycling behavior to eventually improve livable cities. Another form of data collecting via bikes is the Snuffelfiets (“Sniffer Bike”) Project. This project involves small boxes attached to bikes that analyze how much air pollution there is along specific corridors. 

Furthermore, there are more and more ways to personalize your bike to make it smarter. For example, locking your bike through an app or automatically tracking speed. With artificial intelligence, bikes notice when you are going uphill and activate electrical assist. GPS-systems help tracking stolen bikes.

Smart cycling includes bicycles that are somehow connected to the collection and sharing of data; although they don’t need to be directly connected to the internet. This can involve collecting data such as speed and location or, as with the Snuffelfiets (“Sniffer Bike”) Project, can be used to analyze how much air pollution there is along specific corridors. It can monitor popular travel times, routes, and intersections. Other applications include bicycles that can be smart by design such as an e-bike, which may include smart features such as locking through an app, tracking your speed, AI electric assist that notices when you’re going uphill, and GPS tracking to deter theft. 

  • Bicycles and technology are high on the agenda of the EU institutions. Cycling apps and smart monitors accompany cycles as they go about their daily business and help them to see their city from a whole new perspective. It is a great way to experience and share the joy of cycling and instigate change in your city. A combination of technology can help drive safety, innovation, and real-time analyze the movements to best serve users.

  • We’re living in the future! In all aspects, technology has improved our lives; E-bikes allow you to get to your destination faster than a regular bike. E-bikes are not more dangerous than traditional bikes. E-bikes use rechargeable batteries that can travel up to 25 to 45 km/h, much faster than most people would cycle, getting you to your destination quicker and in better shape. In a nutshell, they offer low-cost, energy-efficient, and emission-free transportation, with physical and health benefits. The electric bike is on its way to being up there with its smart counterparts. Considering that this invention will improve continuously over time, what we have now might be the prototype of this promising transport.

  • The world’s cities face complex challenges related to urban mobility, which are predicted to worsen as the volume of traffic caused by commercial delivery services and private trips increases. Every kind of freight transport, from a bag of groceries to a fridge, going a distance of 7 km or less and weighing under 200 kg/m3, could be done by bike according to Cyclelogistics. Cargo bikes could substitute over half of logistics and a quarter of commercial deliveries in European cities. Cargo bikes have the advantage of maneuvering through vehicles, pedestrians, and cycle zones, allowing for faster delivery times than motorized vehicles in cities, despite their potential to reach much higher speeds. To understand the practical aspects of integrating cargo bikes into urban logistics, ‘Space for Cargo Bikes’, –  a study by Arup in collaboration with the municipality of Rotterdam and Tour de Force – examines the current environment for cargo bikes in Dutch cities to propose changes to make it more cargo bike friendly.

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Portrait of Margot Daris

Margot Daris

Project Manager