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The University of Brighton is seeking a PhD candidate for a project on the "datafication of cycling".
This aims to "bring together scholarship in mobilities, intelligent transport and big data to explore the potential of industry-collected cycling data in informing policies and planning for more sustainable transport and mobilities."
The project would suit someone with a background in computer science or digital media, and is being led by e-bike expert Dr Frauke Behrendt.
"Data is becoming ever more important for the cycling industry as well as for transport planning and policy," said Behrendt. She added: "Due to the increasing popularity of cycling apps, smart accessories and cycle delivery services, the amount of cycling data collected by apps and devices is growing, and use of this industry-collected data around transport policy and planning is emerging, both by private transport consultants and by the public sector."
The study will be of "key importance to develop a big data perspective on cycling alongside the typical focus on motorised modes of transport, to really understand mobility patterns and bottlenecks, actual door-to-door tracks, citizens’ behaviour, routes in places where cars cannot go, to model how a city could move without car traffic."
The European Cyclists’ Federation recently established an industry working group on "Big Data".
The successful candidate will receive an annual maintenance grant of £14,553 and there will be additional grants for carrying out fieldwork within the UK, purchasing essential equipment and attending relevant conferences.
Dr Behrendt led the EPSRC-funded research project ‘Smart e-bikes – understanding how commuters and communities engage with electrically-assisted cycling’ and is the co-author of numerous studies on urban cycling and e-bikes, including "Why cycling matters for Smart Cities, the Internet of Bicycles" for the Intelligent Transport Journal of Transport Geography in 2016.
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Source: Irene McAleese, SeeSense.
