Open Data Active Travel Challenge 2021
The Dublin Region Open Data Active Travel Challenge 2021 competition has launched. The organisers, a consortium of active travel and data stakeholders, are looking for innovative ideas and applications that encourage and support active travel.
Entry is open to individuals and groups of all ages and backgrounds by completing a short application form on the competition web page. Shortlisted applicants are then given a further eight weeks to develop their ideas. There’s over €2,000 in cash prizes available for competition winners. All ideas are welcome but must use at least two open datasets. Some key areas of interest include:
- The school run and work commute: How can we use open data to show the best routes between homes and school/college/workplace? What and where are the barriers to walking and cycling, and how can we overcome them?
- Busy routes and congestion hotspots: Where are they? What are the emissions and air quality implications? Which interventions might yield positive outcomes?
- Recreation: How can open data inform maps and route planners to highlight safer, more comfortable or more enjoyable active travel routes?
- Analyses and Visualisations: How can we turn data into insights? For example, where are preferred locations for infrastructure such as footpaths or bike stands? How can bike-share and micro-mobility provision be optimised for the public good? What do current data and trends tell us about the impact of failing to actively travel on public health or climate action commitments?
- Applications and Programmes: How can we use data to promote or gamify active travel and encourage more people to make the transition?
Why active travel? Active travel has many benefits. It is good for our health and wellbeing; it can help address congestion and emissions. In the current Covid-19 context, it lessons pressures on our public transport operating at reduced capacity. Which open data? There are several relevant datasets on the Dublin Region Open Data Platform: data.smartdublin.ie. These include footfall and cycle counts; and bike-share, bike lanes and bike parking provision. And there are many further relevant datasets on the national open data portal: data.gov.ie. Applications are open until March 30, and participants will get a further two months to develop ideas and solutions to be made public at the start of June.