Making an Open Data Map for Cyclists in Brussels

During the lockdown, the community of cyclists has been significantly growing. New cycle paths are being built and we now find ourselves surrounded by small pelotons at red lights! More than ever, there's a need to collect information about the points of interest for cycling in Brussels: where can you find a public bicycle pump? Where can you safely park your bicycle? Where can you get your bike repaired or fix it yourself?

This is what we will solve together on July 21st: collect this data and start creating a map visualizing all points of interest for cycling in Brussels!

What will we do?

During the mapathon, we will add all points of interest for cyclists in Brussels to OpenStreetMap (basically the Wikipedia of maps!). After the event, we will integrate and visualize this open data on a beautiful map for you to use.

Where is the event taking place?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be two options to take part in the event: either you attend remotely (online) or you join us in BeCentral. When we finish mapping, the apero is on us! After all, it's also our national day ;)

What do I need to participate?

Two options:

1. You cycle around Brussels and map every point of interest that you see. You can do this using your phone.

2. You map remotely - either from your home or at BeCentral - using your laptop.

And last but not least, bring your enthusiasm :-)

Do I need a technical profile to come?

Absolutely not! Just your ambition to make Brussels better for cyclists.

What's the schedule?

13:30: Welcome (introduction and tutorial)

14:00: Start mapping

17:00: Mapping ends, let's share a drink!

Last but not least, we would like to cover as much of the Brussels Region as possible. Let us know the (approximate) whereabouts in Brussels you will be mapping here.

Just click on the map to add your pin and drag it around or click somewhere else to update it (it is saved automatically).

This project is made possible thanks to the support of Brussels Mobility and is built by a team of students during Open Summer of Code, an initiative of Open Knowledge Belgium.

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Another project that will be presented at the event: the Bike Data Project

The Bike Data Project is a collaborative platform aggregating cycling data in order to make cyclists more visible and cities more liveable with Open Data.

You can learn more about the project on Twitter and Facebook.

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IMPORTANT UPDATE

Hi,

Thanks again for signing up to “Making an Open Data Map for Cyclists in Brussels”. Here’s some important info to help you help us!

For this event, the most important thing is that you go out in the field with your smartphone and our mobile website to find the cycle infrastructure we’re looking for! The tool is ready for a few different types of objects. During the event, the tool is available at https://pietervdvn.github.io/MapComplete/index.html?layout=pomp

The event will start ONLINE at 1:30pm sharp! We will live-stream instructions at this page: https://youtu.be/C5dVjDt5QAE

We will be available for questions after the video. Join us at https://meet.openknowledge.be/cyclofix

After you went mapping, we’re doing a small gathering in BeCentral. There will be a few free beers starting at 17:00. Meet your fellow mappers or come to talk about related projects. If you want to learn more about mapping other stuff, bring your laptop. Don’t forget your facemask (just in case)! We only expect about 20-30 people there.

For the event we will focus on just: bicycle parkings, drinking water, bicycle pumps, bicycle repair stations, bicycle shops and bicycle repair shops. Add details about existing objects, and scout the neighborhood for missing objects! Don’t just answer the questions, please also share a picture of the object.

More info:

- During the registration, we asked you to click on a map to tell us which area you were going to focus on. We noticed that many of you are aiming for the city center! But we want people to go mapping in the entire Brussels region. So why not go to Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Uccle or Anderlecht? Have another look at the map https://osmbe.github.io/cyclofix-website/signup-map/ and maybe add another area to your plans. There’s nothing like being a tourist in your own city, no? :)

- BeCentral is a little hard to find. There’s a separate entrance at Cantersteen 10/12, which is a small entrance of the Brussels-Centraal railway station. For an exact location: http://umap.openstreetmap.fr/nl/map/becentral-map_482115

- If you want to come to BeCentral at the start of the event, that’s OK. Just make sure you’re there at 13:00, because we will start at 13:30 sharp!

- We’re also doing a Strava event. If you are a Strava user, join the Strava Cyclofix club to see how many kilometers we will commonly cover tomorrow. See https://www.strava.com/clubs/707280 and https://www.strava.com/clubs/707280/group_events/758365

- The tool is made for you to edit the OpenStreetMap database straight from your smartphone. This is of course limited! There’s more ways to edit the data, and more ways to view the data. Join us at the post-event drink to learn more about visualisation and data collection.

- Let us know where you went mapping! Use Strava, record a GPX trace, or just send us an email. We’ll see which edits were made by this group, but maybe you went looking for things and there simply was nothing there.

- The tool connects to OpenStreetMap. Before you can use the tool, you need to make an account. To save some time during the event, make an account now at https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/new . Don’t forget to open the confirmation e-mail. The tool will ask for permission to your new account.

- This mapathon is a learning experience for the project. It’s not finished yet! Help us make it better by telling us about your experience after the event. We are aware that there will be several small issues and apologize in advance.

Thanks in advance and we hope to see you soon!