LAUNCHING Q2 2024

Build Your Bike Route

The FREE interactive Build Your Bike Route tool from Sweco allows you to plandraw and score potential walking, wheeling and cycling routes in your area – and build your case for funding when seeking support and approval for new Active Travel networks.

In order to unlock the power of the bike, it is critical public, private and third sectors and our communities work together to have the correct infrastructure in place to support local and visiting cyclists to enjoy our region.

Patrick Harvie, Scotland’s Minister for Active Travel

A one-stop tool for mapping data, our Build Your Bike Route tool will host datasets published by multiple providers in one convenient location, including bus stop locations, personal injury data, topography, open street map data, flooding, cycle networks and much more.

Whether you’re an end client, local authority, funding body or community group, you’ll be able to build the best ‘big picture’ case to enhance decision-making and applications with…

  • Free access to digital mapping: Dozens of public datasets brought into one easy to view & navigate place.
  • Free access to our Knowledge Centre: Our guides outline what it takes to start an active travel project, and what potential funders are looking for.
  • Free access to our interactive Area Scorecards: Explore your local area(s), and see key demographics such as census data on travel habits, topography, areas of flooding and more. Use these area summary stats to support your next active travel project.
  • Free access to our Route Drawing Tool*: Users who register with Sweco to submit routes for expert analysis. We will then provide you with a report of how is performs. The aim of this analysis is to arm you with all the information you need to evidence why your next active travel project deserves funding; and
  • Free-to-view and share library of high quality 3D visualisations: Our 3D Wheels show a snapshot of what different types of active travel look like.
*T&Cs apply

01. Plan

Scope your route using built-in maps that show existing core paths, National Cycle Network routes, collision history, flooding areas and commuting datasets.

02. Draw

Plot and experiment with routes using our intuitive path editor. This can be as simple as a straight line from A to B or add waypoints to make is more realistic.

03. Score

Submit your route to Sweco for detailed analysis that shows its potential impacts and benefits on the area in support of your funding application.

GIS Mapping

A one stop shop for mapping data. BYBR will host datasets published by from multiple providers in one convenient location. These datasets include bus stop locations, personal injury data, topography, open street map data, flooding, cycle networks and much more. Having all this data in one place makes planning and plotting possible routes much easier.

3D Visualisations

A picture says a thousand words, our library of high quality 3D visualisations will be available for users to share, showing what typical rural active travel can look like. I hope this will be embraced by property owners early on as it shows how individual design is possible.

Alternative Path Construction Techniques

Path construction in Scotland typically involves traditional design and construction approaches. These include virgin cut stone from quarry, and new black-top paths which can create higher carbon outputs through heating and transport.

At Sweco we believe in circular construction, and so we are challenging the industry to change. BYBR will provide a platform to promote alternative methods of construction that include higher recycled materials, lower temperature mixes, and technology such as foam mix.

There is huge opportunity for a more circular economy modal of path construction across the UK, and beyond.

Sweco is pushing for a transformation in path construction. Using the BYBR platform, we’re promoting sustainable alternatives like recycled materials and lower-temperature mixes.

 

This shift towards a circular economy model offers not just environmental benefits, but broader community advantages. It’s a practical way to significantly reduce carbon emissions and waste, benefiting Scotland today and setting a precedent for the rest of the UK and beyond.

Stuart Guthrie Technical Director Pavement Engineering at Sweco

Scoring Tool

Data lead evidence of route selection is becoming increasingly important, not just for our clients, but for funders also. BYBR will use a GIS based scoring toolbox, that will take a users drawn route, and score it against the dozens of datasets we have correlated. We are currently working with key stakeholders to ensure this assessment methodology is supported by Scottish Government funders, improving the quality of schemes that apply, and improving connectivity across Scotland.

Guidance

It takes time to become an expert in all things active travel. BYBR aims at reducing this burden, by providing a Knowledge Centre that brakes down the important information into more accessible language and smaller chunks. This collection of guidance information will be hosted in GIS Storymaps, that can be more dynamic and engaging than just PDFs.

For active travel infrastructure projects to be successful they are reliant on connecting communities, our tool will allow communities to move at pace to build networks of active travel infrastructure instead of isolated connections, thus maximising the impact within communities.

Alexander McNaughton Principal Engineer at Sweco

The CivTech Challenge: “How can technology unlock the power of the bike, stimulating demand for cycling infrastructure and support South of Scotland communities?”

Build Your Bike Route was developed by Sweco as part of the South of Scotland Enterprise CivTech Challenge project, which aims to use technology to solve real-life challenges facing public and third sector organisations in Scotland.

Through our successful entry and the development of Build Your Bike Route as a working tool, our aim is to help deliver better Active Travel routes across our rural regions, through data-led evidence, and in doing so promote circular economy in construction.

Professor Russel Griggs, Chair of SOSE, said:

“This was the perfect CivTech Challenge for SOSE – combining our desire for the South to embrace innovation, and our region’s aim of becoming one of the leading cycling destinations in the world. In order to unlock the power of the bike, it is critical public, private and third sectors and our communities work together to have the correct infrastructure in place to support local and visiting cyclists to enjoy our region.

The South of Scotland Cycling Partnership has made excellent progress in this area in 2023, with the launch of the new Kirkpatrick C2C, the South of Scotland’s Coast to Coast route, the UCI Bike Region Label, a new SOSE Cycling Infrastructure Fund and the hosting of the 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships. The development of the Build Your Bike Route tool is another fantastic opportunity for the South to embrace technology to strengthen our active travel network, bringing further social, wellbeing and environmental benefits for the South.”

Scotland’s Minister for Active Travel Patrick Harvie said:

“I first heard about the Build Your Bike Route project at an event during the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in the summer and was keen to find out more. Many of the best plans for improving walking, wheeling and cycling are community-led or enjoy strong community support. But it is not always easy for community groups to know how best to put together a plan and navigate the various steps in making the plan a reality.”

Steve Plummer, CivTech Innovation Manager, added:

“The successful delivery of e-bikes challenge has the potential to transform how rural communities interact and move around their localities as well as having a major positive impact on the environment and Scotland’s overarching net zero targets.

The team on Build Your Bike Route have been committed to creating a great solution working in true partnership to achieve the end result with oversight and governance that is being held up as best practice for future CivTech challenges.”