Crowdsourced map helps users choose good bike routes within Berlin

A project of the BMW Guggenheim Lab, Dynamic Connections is an interactive cycle map of Berlin.

We’ve seen several efforts over the years to help consumers plan their routes of travel, but German Dynamic Connections offers an interesting twist. First, it focuses exclusively on travel by bicycle within Berlin; second, it also allows users to review the bicycle-friendliness of the city’s various streets and thoroughfares. A project of the BMW Guggenheim Lab, Dynamic Connections is essentially an interactive bicycle map of Berlin. Users who need to get from one part of the city to another can view all cycle routes within the city as well as choosing views that display cycle-friendly or cycle-unfriendly streets or intersections, for instance. Users of Dynamic Connections can also provide their own input as to streets’ cycle suitability by answering a few simple questions regarding traffic volume, topography and safety considerations for routes they are familiar with. In that way, the site offers a crowdsourced view of the city’s potential future biking network as well, it notes. With the rise of cycling in general and urban bike-sharing schemes in particular, it stands to reason that consumers will increasingly value help finding the best routes. One to emulate in your urban environment? Spotted by Murray Orange