Dublin Cycling Buddy

Cycling in Dublin has been synonymous with many terms over the years, such as having to be ‘brave’ and ‘committed’ despite its benefits of affordability, environmental sustainability, and efficiency. At its base, key to starting out on a bike in Dublin is getting comfortable with routes and traffic.

Cycling in Dublin made more safe and fun

The Lord Mayor’s ‘Cycle Around Dublin’ Challenge has participants cycling to as many as 15 locations across Dublin

Cycling in Dublin has been synonymous with many terms over the years, such as having to be ‘brave’ and ‘committed’ despite its benefits of affordability, environmental sustainability, and efficiency. At its base, key to starting out on a bike in Dublin is getting comfortable with routes and traffic.

Dublin Cycling Campaign, Dublin City Council, and Smart Dublin, have been working together to produce the ‘Go-To’ cycle routing and gamification app curated just for Dublin. Through the participation of our cycling community, this app will continue to crowd-source critical information to provide more ‘localised’ and accurate cycle routing data. This will help Dublin City Council to create a safer and more bike-friendly environment for all.

To coincide with the 20th of May 2021 full release of the Dublin Cycling Buddy app, 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, with prizes up for grabs.

Project Objectives

Being able to source out safer cycling routes has been a key piece for new cyclists

Dublin Cycling Buddy helps make your cycle rides around Dublin safer and more enjoyable! Built using a new community-powered cycling navigation engine, the app will find safe, bike-friendly routes for your commuting and recreational rides. It utilises large data sets, including GPS trajectories and crowdsourced issue reports, with a data engine that analyses the collected data to produce these optimised routes. The solution will give cyclists peace of mind when planning their ride, knowing full well that they’re getting the best selection of cycle routes available.

Additionally, there are badges, challenges, leaderboards, and prizes to be won! Further fostering and building up Dublin’s cycling community.

Adding a dash of games and fun into the mix, hoping folks feel more motivated to cycle

Project Outcomes

The collection of data from cycling routes will help the city council’s planning department determine which ‘non official’ routes that cyclists are organically taking, in order to improve cycling infrastructure in these key locations.

The app is also expected to foster a deeper digital community for Dublin cyclists through the real time feedback (e.g. potholes, traffic jams, near misses etc.), as well as taking part in the friendly competitions across the city and county.

As quoted by DCC’s Chief Executive Owen Keegan:

“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.”

To download the app, please visit https://dublin.cyclers.city/