Those who violate the rules of Halifax’s bike lanes may soon find an image of that violation online.
A new crowd sourcing app called CYCLE snApp, launched Friday, takes images of bike lane violations throughout the city.
“The goal of it is to collect real data about what’s happening on the street and gather feedback in a way that’s useful to provide to other city officials and to have those eyes on the ground. It allows us to see the problem areas and address them a lot quicker,” said Kelsey Lane with the Halifax Cycling Coalition.
Once uploaded, the app tracks where those bike lane violations occur on a GPS map. Those violation could range from parking in bike lanes, to inadequate bike parking, to broken bike stands.
The uploads provide valuable data to the Halifax Cycling Coalition.
“The goal of it is to collect real data about what’s happening on the street and gather feedback in a way that’s useful to provide to other city officials. And to have those eyes on the ground. It allows us to see the problem areas and address them a lot quicker,” Lane said.
The City of Halifax says they could also make use of the data to inform future bike lane planning.
“We’re always interested in getting information on how the bike lanes are operating,” said David MacIsaac, active transportation supervisor with the city.
But he said people are still encouraged to report issues the old fashion way.
“We encourage residents to call the 311 line if they see an infraction or like to request some parking enforcement,” MacIsaac said.
Violators Beware
Although CYCLE snApp is anonymous for those who use it. It won’t be for those who violate the bike lane rules. The coalition says it’s a “violate at your own risk” scenario.
“If you’re parking in a bicycle lane and someone snaps a picture, I guess that’s you’re wrongdoing,” Lane said.
The app was created in partnership with the Halifax Cycling Coalition and Dalhousie University. You can download the App here: CYCLE snApp.
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