Gloucestershire cyclists to be paid as they peddle with new mobile game

As part of its strategy to promote cycling and active travel, Gloucestershire County Council council is asking cyclists to help improve the countys bike infrastructure by playing a mobile game that offers cash rewards.

In a UK first, the council has teamed up with Finnish software startup, Crowdsorsa, to provide a crowdsourced data collection event to survey the condition of the county’s cycling infrastructure.

The mobile game would allow riders to collect virtual fruits and berries worth money by recording video footage of the cycle routes ridden.

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

The game shows users over 250 miles of cycling routes on a map, all covered with virtual fruit and berries, and the more of these they collect – the more money they earn. Each mile of cycle route has around £2.50 worth of objects to collect.

Anyone with a smartphone, a bike and a phone holder can take part in the survey. The Crowdsorsa mobile game can be downloaded for free from the App Store and Google Play. Within the app, there is a mission created for the Gloucestershire survey, which also features 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 some money in the process.

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

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

“The crowdsourced video data will be analysed by an AI model to identify pavement defects. The information will then be used for maintenance planning on Gloucestershire’s cycling route network.

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

Don't have a bike of your own? No need to worry, you can hire bikes and e-bikes from the Cheltenham bicycle hub. There has never been a better time to explore Cheltenham and the rest of the county on two wheels.

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