Play a mobile game on your phone to help improve cycling in Gloucestershire — Gloucestershire News Service

“In a first in the UK, the council has partnered with Finnish software startup, Crowdsorsa, to organize a crowdsourced data collection event to investigate the state of the county’s cycling infrastructure.

“The mobile game would allow runners to collect virtual fruits and berries with monetary value. These are collected by recording video footage of cycle routes travelled.

“The survey will start at 10 a.m. on Thursday June 2, and anyone with a smartphone, bike and phone holder can participate.

“The game shows users over 250 miles of cycle paths on a map, all covered in virtual fruits and berries, and the more they collect, the more money they earn. Each mile of cycle path has around £2.50 objects to collect.

“Anyone with a smartphone, bike and phone holder can participate in the survey.

“The Crowdsorsa mobile game can be downloaded for free from the App Store and Google Play. In the app, there is an assignment created for the Gloucestershire survey, which also contains instructions for users.

Cllr David Gray, Cabinet Member Responsible for Green Transport and the Environment, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for cyclists across the county to get out on their bikes and earn money in the process.

“The video footage captured in this survey will give valuable insight into the state of our cycling infrastructure in Gloucestershire and tell us where improvements need to be made.

“I urge cyclists across the county to get on their bikes, explore our county’s bike trails, and earn money in the process.”

Toni Paju, CEO of Crowdsorsa, said: “The first user to collect an item is rewarded as it then disappears from everyone’s map in real time. This makes the survey well organized and shows users where data still needs to be collected.

“Crowdsourced video data will be analyzed by an AI model to identify pavement defects. The information will then be used for maintenance planning of Gloucestershire’s cycleway network.

“Never before in the UK has such data been collected by engaging citizens via a mobile game.”