If you forget about the KOMS, the QOMs, the sprints and the descents for just a moment, Strava actually serves a really important purpose. When you upload a ride to Strava, and tag it as a commute, it becomes part of the huge anonymous Strava Metro dataset. Strava then aggregates all this data and provides it to governments, and local councils, to help them understand how cyclists use their towns and cities, so that they can better plan their cycling infrastructure.
In 2015 alone, 168 million activities were uploaded to Strava (roughly five every second) and in dense urban areas nearly half were commutes. To date, this data has been passed on to over 70 different organisations and government agencies.
‘Strava Metro is a revolutionary product that only a business like Strava can create,’ says Gareth Nettleton, vice president of marketing at Strava.
‘We’ve been helping runners and cyclists track their activities since 2009, and their billions anonymised of data points have given us a unique perspective on how they move through urban areas. When we combine our perspective with local government data and research, Strava can be a very insightful partner to urban planners and municipalities that want to promote and improve cycling in their city.
‘Your Strava commute counts because every activity has the potential to make a difference to cycling in your area. It doesn’t matter if you ride 1 mile or 50 miles, if you ride to work on 10th May you can be a part of a global movement to make cities better for cyclists.’
To explain a little more about how Strava Metro works, it has commissioned a short film by artist Rich Mitch (creator of the Grand Tour book).
How to participate
In the Strava App, there is a ‘commute’ button. This appears when you finish recording your ride when using the app. You can also post edit rides in the app and tag them as a commute by hitting the edit button. This brings you to the same screen below:
If uploading via your fitness GPS, you can go in and manually tag on your computer.
So go on, get out there and make your #CommutesCount
Get involved at www.strava.com/challenges/bike-to-work