Saskatoon: Canada: Ushahidi-based Saskatoon Bike Map, located at saskatoonbikemap.crowdmap.com, set up by a local man – Bryn Rawlyk, is allowing cyclists in Saskatoon, Canada, to report on the bicycle-friendliness of different areas of the city. Ushahidi is an open-source mapping platform for crowdsourcing information
Rawlyk got the idea after seeing a similar bike map of Los Angeles. Saskatoon Bike Map lets users report bicycle-related incidents and information — such as collisions, bike thefts or locations of good trails — and displays the reports on an easy-to-understand map of the city. Dots on the map represent various report types, allowing site visitors to get a visual representation of what other cyclists are saying about areas of Saskatoon.
Rawlyk estimates that 20 to 30 users have contributed to the site. So far there are 50 reports posted, with the most common types being complaints of harassment and areas where bike paths are insufficient or not observed by non-cyclists.
Rawlyk added that Saskatoon Bike Map allows the voices of local cyclists to have some permanence. “When you don’t have all the stories in one place,” said Rawlyk, “it just stays a word-of-mouth story.”
Source:Â www.thestarphoenix.com
