Pop-up lanes prove a big hit in Leicester

BetterPoints is working with Leicester City and Leicestershire County councils to encourage the use of their new pop-up infrastructure and measure its impact.

Cyclists in Leicester tell us the new pop-up lanes make them feel safer and more confident to use the roads.

Local people use the BetterPoints app to earn rewards for tracking their walking and cycling activities, and the councils use that data to improve the network and inform transport policy.

To do this, we geofenced the pop-up lanes – that is, we marked out their boundaries in our system. This means we can tell which segments of the lanes are being used – to within a few metres – as well as when, and how often, people are using them.

This use of geospatial data allows us to present contextual content or ecological momentary assessments (EMAs), providing invaluable feedback to the cyclists and the councils. Geofencing the lanes allows us to track granular sections. Our system knows when and how often each section is used.

What people say:

“Made my normal routes for exercise and commuting much safer.”

“The pop-up lanes have made cycling safer and are encouraging me to get out and cycle more.”

“It’s brilliant! Cycling has always been quite hazardous, with cars driving over the cycle lanes and pulling out of parking spaces in front of you and stopping and manoeuvring in all directions! This lane will make cycling much safer. Please can it be permanent?”