CycleStreets.net
UK-wide bicycle
journey planner & photomap
Martin Lucas-Smith
For Cyclists, By Cyclists www.CycleStreets.net
@CycleStreets

CycleStreets
System of two parts:
Cycle journey planner Photomap
Online service Campaigning tool

CycleStreets: history
 Cambridge-only
 Originally written for Cambridge Cycling Campaign
 Written by colleague Simon Nuttall
 Launched June 2006
 Google Map –based
 5,000 lines drawn over
satellite imagery
 50,000 journeys planned

CycleStreets: history
 Lots of requests for same thing in other places
around the UK
 OSM obvious data source for UK-wide system
 Result is CycleStreets
 Andy’s OpenCycleMap cartography
 Went to public beta in March 2009
 17,000 journeys
 No promotion so far

CycleStreets: UK-wide

Journey Planner

Namefinder used for locations

Gives Fastest + Quietest +
Shortest

Route feedback goes to OSM
contacts

Route feedback goes to OSM
contacts

KML and GPX export

Code
 Object PHP, with a few libraries used
 Currently MySQL
 Looking at PostGres
 Maybe replace core engine with C++ module?
 Or use another engine: yet to evaluate
 Keen to build a project team
 Code not yet open sourced but will be
 Routing is all documented

Routing documented

Routing
 Custom-written engine
 Takes Britain.osm around
every two days (nightly soon)
 Import process
 Import takes 5 hours to work through all stages
 ‘Cellular optimisation’ to get speed
 80% of data is discarded or abstracted
 We have one dual-core machine only (at
present)
 Handled 1 plan per second on day of tube strike

Scoring
 We collapse matrix of OSM tags into
40 ‘Provision Types’
 Each has:
 Maximum achievable speed (tweaked subjectively)
 Quietness factor (also tweaked subjectively)
 Cycleable? (boolean)
 Walkable? (boolean)
 One-way? (boolean)
 Delay (seconds)
 These then mapped onto each line to create 6
scores (fastest/shortest/quietest + in reverse)
 Conversion table and Provision Types table:

Conversion from OSM

Conversion from OSM

Provision Types – as used by the
engine

Cellular optimisation
 Our method of reducing data volume by 80%
A A
9 8
4
9: AC
10 7: AD,BD
D
3
B B
6 6: BC
C C
9
Park: 4 nodes & 7 ways After: 3 nodes & 3 ways

Photomap: cycling photos on
map

Photomap: cycling photos on
map

Upload photo / video / Flickr
import

Photomap: add categorisation
data

Photomap: add categorisation
data

Photomap: categorisation

Listings e.g. “All cycle parking
problems in Cambridge”

Other features: RSS feed, Galleries, More
photos near here, My journeys, Info about this
area page, Search, XML interface etc.

Features about to appear
 Hills/contours
 Will use SRTM (Aster later)
 Local Authority backend to prioritise
problems shown in photos and resolve them
 Tools for getting feedback to OSM people
 Photos within route listings
 In correct direction
 Gives a good idea of journey before riding
 Was in original system
 URL API

Photos en route

http://cambridge.cyclestreets.net/ journey/YorkStreet/

http://cambridge.cyclestreets.net/ journey/YorkStreet/Downing
Place/

Routing errors: three classes
1. Data incomplete in area
 (But we have no way of knowing!)
 Or data doesn’t join up or is mis-tagged
2. Conversion errors
 Our simplification from OSM matrix
to 40 provision types
3. Engine errors
 But Cambridge data is so good so bad routes
are due to the engine not the data

Problems
 Lack of tools to find where
ways don’t join properly
 Bad joins cause many odd routes
 So we wrote our own ‘snooker ball’ views
 No way to find out how complete an
area is
 Need for data we can query
 So we can manage expectations
 Coping with sheer volume of data!

Other points
 Must avoid subjective data
 Some cyclists are fine with busy traffic
 Other cyclists use only quiet streets
 Let the engine/user make the decisions
 Use of generic data for use by specific
community
 Data such as surface, cycle lane widths, pinch
points, path quality, are things which would
improve the routing
 Would it work in other countries?
 Yes, but scoring table would be different
 Cycle tracks: UK vs. Holland: different expectations

Please try CycleStreets and give
feedback!
 Feedback in an area you know is very
useful to us
 Use of OSM data for real-life routing
means data errors will be found quicker
 So better for OSM ...
 and better for CycleStreets
 Community aspect very important to us
 Good links with cycling bodies
 All feedback welcome!

Martin Lucas-Smith,
www.CycleStreets.net
Twitter: @cyclestreets
info@cyclestreets.net