I wonder if they considered using a service like EveryTrail, similar to MMR. I noticed that REI was able to develop their own app from the EveryTrail API. It would give users with any GPS device the ability to upload and share trip information. I think you can even draw your trip online, further increasing accessibility. Perhaps in a future collaboration?

This reminds me of a Berkeley Transportation study that used cell phones to track traffic habits. I can see how that type of technology wouldn’t work for street travel. The under 30m radius you get with iPhone GPS is perfect. Besides, as ground breaking as that study was, the tech behind it is already dated.

At any rate, good job Andy & the TA guys.

@Jerome battery life was a concern of the development team as well – that’s why we took steps to minimize battery usage, remind you that the app’s running and ensure that we don’t drain your iPhone to unusable levels. There should be plenty of juice in there to track your rides!

@dopatch, @mikesonn glad to hear you found CycleTracks easier to use than some of the other options out there! We definitely spent a lot of time streamlining the user experience

@jass – this is for developing a model, not for the “direct” data. Without getting too technical, that means we’ll be able to extrapolate route-finding behavior to locations that are picked up less frequently in the sample.

@Techi – this is quite different from the bike counter program: we’re not counting bicycles, we’re measuring what routes bikers use. So ghost-riding in neighborhoods you don’t live in won’t help us. But I’m guessing you were just making a funny.

And yep, we know we’re only tracking iPhone users, which is one more reason it’s important that people fill out the user demographics. Personally I’m not too worried that iPhone users like/dislike hills or parking lanes more than your average biker, but we’re going to keep an eye on those demographics just in case.

i think there should be an option to add how many riders you see on your route since there were three other riders on my commute (which is common). i didn’t ask if they had iphones…

In a year and half of iphone use, this is only my second app. The other is an electronic metronome. My children think I’m pathetic.

So far out of my two trips, one only half recorded my route and this morning it recorded nothing. I’ll keep using it though as it’ll show the SFCTA that I bike every day. This isn’t a one time, there is my route type deal – they need to be told not only where you bike, but how often.

The downside is that iphone owners are not a good sample of the general population. I hope that limitation is taken into account. Further, the people who download this program will generally be those more active in the cycling community. Your average citizen has no interest in finding this ap.

In LA for example, many cyclists are migrant workers who have no other form of transportation available. They certainly do not own iphones, and if they did, would probably not know about the availability of this ap.