Until now, the only way we’ve been able to prove that a junction, road, or cycle lane is unsafe is by counting the number of incidents. Wouldn’t it be better if we could identify dangerous areas before anybody gets hurt?
That’s exactly what MPATH, a new program from design firm Gresham Smith, is intended to do. By collecting heart rate and location data from smart watches, the MPATH team can see which points in the traffic system are causing spikes in cyclists’ heart rates and, subsequently, work out which are the most stressful or dangerous places to cycle.
It was launched in May, and deployed in Denver, USA to study cyclists. Six months on, GCN spoke to Mike Sewell, Head of Innovation at Gresham Smith, to hear more about how MPATH works and, crucially, to find out whether the Denver trial has been a success.
