See.Sense & London Borough of Newham putting ‘lights on bikes’ to help make 15 minute neighbourhood scheme a success

The London Borough of Newham has partnered with UK cycling technology company See.Sense in a data-driven project aimed at promoting active travel. 

The new Smart Cycling Project will support the Romford Road Active Travel scheme, a central aspect of Newham’s plans for a more community oriented 15 Minute Neighbourhood. 

With funding from the government’s levelling up fund, this initiative is focused on shifting the transport emphasis away from cars towards active travel.

The project will leverage See.Sense’s intelligent bike lights, equipped with patented sensor technology, to collect valuable data regarding cyclist behaviour and safety.   

Two hundred Newham residents have been provided with these bike lights, which, when synced with a smartphone app, send anonymised data to the local authority, helping to guide infrastructural improvements.

Significantly, the lights can increase their flash intensity in potentially dangerous situations, like at intersections or during sudden braking, offering an extra layer of safety for cyclists.

The information collected from this project will assist Newham in enhancing pedestrian and cycling routes along the critical Romford Road corridor.

The project intends to tackle long standing issues concerning the quality of pavements, obtrusive pavement parking, and the overall appearance of Romford Road to make it more accessible and appealing for pedestrians and cyclists.

Data points gathered by See.Sense include popular cycling routes, near miss incidents, crash events, rapid speed changes, swerving, road surface conditions, and average speeds.

Riders also have the option to report specific issues via the app, fostering a safer cycling environment.

The aggregated data will be made accessible through a user-friendly dashboard, providing the Newham Highways Team with a valuable resource for monitoring the Romford Road Corridor improvements as well as to help identifying where there is a need to improve roads and connections for cyclists.

The data will also help facilitate engagement with riders in order to provide encouragement and share project updates. 

Beccy Marston, Head of Projects at See.Sense, reports a positive response to the Smart Cycling Project: "There's been strong interest from local cyclists who are keen to contribute to the project and enhance their visibility on the road."

Philip McAleese, CEO of See.Sense, commented, "We're pleased to work with the London Borough of Newham on this scheme. Our data can identify issues and evaluate the scheme's impact in a data-led manner, supporting the shift towards safer and more connected cycling routes."

Senior Project Manager at the London Borough of Newham, Martina Gabrilelli, stated: "The Smart Cycling Project offers a unique opportunity for Newham's citizens and the council to work together to better understand cycling behaviour and safety in the Romford Road area. This type of data would be difficult to capture by other means, and will really help boost our monitoring and evaluation of the scheme, as well as inform the design and maintenance of Newham cycling infrastructure, improve safety and ultimately enable more people to cycle with data-led evaluation."

See.Sense data insights have previously been utilised by Transport for London to understand collisions and risks to cyclists.

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