1. UCL CENTRE FOR ADVANCED SPATIAL ANALYSIS
London’s Barclays Cycle Hire
Innovative Usages of Data by Third-Party Developers
Oliver O’Brien
Research Associate
UCL CASA
OBIS Project Meeting – 3 March 2011

2. London’s Barclays Cycle Hire - Timeline
30 July 2010 Scheme launches
2 August 2010 Adrian Short releases “Boris Bikes API”
8 October 2010 1 million journeys made
3 December 2010 Scheme opens for “casual use”
5 January 2011 Flow data on first 1.4 million journeys
released by Transport for London
1 February 2011 2.5 million journeys made

3. Adrian Short’s “Boris Bikes API”
• API = “Application Programming Interface”
• http://borisapi.heroku.com/
• Available as XML, JSON, CSV or KML

4. Sachin Handiekar’s “TfL Cycle Hire API”
• http://www.bike-stats.co.uk/
• Available as XML, JSON, CSV or YAML

5. Flow Data Release

6. Review of APIs for Some Schemes in Europe
External Use of Data API NO API
Rennes London
Explicitly Allowed Vienna
Saragossa Bordeaux
Barcelona
Implicitly Allowed Milan
Rome
Dijon
Implicitly Not Allowed Cardiff
Paris Turin
Dublin
Brussels
Explicitly Not Allowed Valencia
Seville
Stockholm

7. Review of APIs for Some Schemes Worldwide
External Use of Data API NO API
Rennes Washington DC London
Explicitly Allowed Vienna
Saragossa Montreal Bordeaux Mexico City
Melbourne Barcelona Denver
Implicitly Allowed Minneapolis Milan
Miami Beach Rome
Rio de Janeiro Dijon
Implicitly Not Allowed Cardiff Adelaide
Paris Toyama Turin Shanghai
Dublin
Brussels
Explicitly Not Allowed Valencia
Seville
Stockholm

8. Why Release Data to Third Party Developers?
• Creation of applications to help users plan
journey from office/home or while on bike
• Visualisations and analysis which increase the
profile and “public goodwill” of the scheme
– Newspaper articles
– Higher profile on search engines
• Tourists more likely to discover scheme before arriving
• Another tangible benefit to the public

9. Why Do Third Parties Use Data?
• As a business
– To make money from “apps”
• To increase their profile
• For the public good
– Because they love their city
• Academic research
– Transport modelling
• To hold the scheme to account

10. What Data can be Released?
• Near-live (~1 minute)
– Docking station status
• Name
• Numeric ID
• Location as latitude/longitude
• Current number of available bikes
• Current number of available spaces
• Historical
– Flow data

11. Online Digital Mapping Providers
• OpenStreetMap

12. Online Digital Mapping Providers
• CycleStreets

13. iPhone and Android Apps
• London Cycle Deluxe • Cyclo
• London Cycle Maps and • Spotcycle
Routes/London Cycle Pro • iFindBikes
• Cycle Hire • iLondonCycle
• London Cycle Pro • Boris Bikes
• Bike Hub Cycle Journey Planner • Yell for Bikes
• London Tube • Cycle Hire Widget/Lite
• BlueLanes Cycle Hire App • Just BikeIT London
• London Bike • Boris Bikes Live
• Bixou/Bixou Lite • London Cycle Hire LIVE

14. iPhone Apps
London Cycle Cycle Hire Live

15. iPhone Apps – Augmented Reality
BlueLanes London Tube (Presslite)

16. Android Apps – Cycle Hire Widget

17. Android Apps – Cycle Hire Widget
• Links with “Live View” gadget

18. Visualisations – Docking Station States

19. Visualisations – Docking Station Changes

20. Visualisations – Flows: Journey Times

21. Visualisations – Flows: Weekdays

22. Visualisations – Flows: Weekends

23. Visualisations – Flows on Optimal Routes

24. Visualisations – Flows on Optimal Routes

25. A Bit of Analysis – Docking Station Graphs

26. A Bit of Analysis – Distribution Balance

27. Academic Research

28. Thanks!
p1 photo by ChodHound - http://flic.kr/p/9aJezh
p11, 12, 14, 18-24 Images contain OpenStreetMap data CC-By-
SA OpenStreetMap and contributors –
http://www.openstreetmap.org/
p12, 14 CycleStreets background cartography design by
Cloudmade.
p15 Photos of London Tube from Pressliteapps video.
p16-17 Cycle Hire Widget is written by Little Fluffy Toys.
p17 Photos from London Cyclist Blog and Appbrain.
p20 Average Journey Time map from James Cheshire –
http://spatialanalysis.org.uk/
p23 Greyscale routed flow map by Demeter Sztanko –
Oliver O’Brien http://borisbikes.saltaku.com/
o.obrien@ucl.ac.uk p24 Visualisation in conjunction with Martin Austiwick –
http://sociablephysics.wordpress.com/
http://casa.ucl.ac.uk/
p25 Docking station graphs by Aidan Slingsby –
http://www.oliverobrien.co.uk/ http://gicentre.org/tfl_bikes/