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By viv, 19 August, 2011 8:00 am

Mission:Explore, one of our GeoVation Challenge winners, have been busy planning missions to encourage children and families to use the National Cycle Network and lots of other exciting stuff too.  Below, Daniel from Mission:Explore tells us more about it.

Things are moving along quickly here at Mission:Explore and we are very excited about the coming year. Winning the support of GeoVation, Ideas in Transit and the University of West England means a brand new Mission:Explore website with lots of beautiful and new functionality.

We won GeoVation funding to improve transport in Britain and specifically the National Cycle Network. Working closely with Sustrans and Arla we are creating challenges and activities that we call ‘missions’ along parts of the cycle network. When people discover these missions (online or through stickers in the landscape) they will be able to win points and earn badges. We will be experimenting to see how this kind of ‘gamification’ can create new uses and users of this important piece of infrastructure. We are very pleased to have Charles Musselwhite, a social psychologist from the University of West England, researching our work and helping us to make this project a success.

Unlike the current Mission:Explore, on the new platform users will have accounts, explorer blogs, leader boards and many other enhanced features.
Mission:Explore will be relaunched as www.MissionExplore.Net this September. We are delighted that National Geographic Education are using the platform to encourage another kind of behaviour change. The US based organisation are using MissionExplore.Net as their central campaigning tool for Geography Awareness Week . The site will be launching with 20 missions (take a look here ) which encourage children, teachers and families to explore their local communities and earn online Mapping, Storytelling, Photography and Take Action! badges. Taking place in November Geography Awareness Week aims to draw attention to the importance of ’geo-literacy, ensuring that people make well reasoned decisions about our nation’s economic competitiveness, national security, environmental sustainability, and the livability of our communities in the 21st century’. We are recently back from the National Conference for Geographic Education in Portland (Oregon) where we trained Geography Awareness Week coordinators in making the best use of Mission:Explore.

Moving forward we will be announcing a new pricing plan in which third sector organisations can create and manage their own ‘channel’ and missions on MissionExplore.Net from just £25 for 1 mission. They can also purchase a ‘white label’ version of the platform for their own use. Any charity or public sector organisation that places an order before the launch of MissionExplore.Net in September will enjoy a 15% discount on any selected plan.

For further details contact Daniel at daniel@thegeographycollective.co.uk.

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By viv, 10 August, 2011 8:00 am

CycleStreets, one of our  ‘How can we improve transport in Britain? GeoVation Challenge winners, were awarded £27 000 to help them built their cycling advocacy toolkit for groups across the country to campaign for better cycling facilities.

A lot of their users will already know that they use  OpenStreetMap data as the basis of their street/path network for route planning, but did you know that they are using several of the OS OpenData™ datasets in their Journey Planner?

OS OpenData offers a wide range of datasets from Ordnance Survey. CycleStreets are using the postcode database, Code-Point Open®, Boundary-Line™ and OS Street View® to improve the facilities on Cyclestreets.

Find out more about how they are using it on their blog.

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By viv, 5 August, 2011 9:26 am

mySociety, one of our  ‘How can we improve transport in Britain?’ GeoVation Challenge winners, have been working on their new website. Below you can find out more about how it’s being developed.

In the months since winning our share of the GeoVation award, the FixMyTransport website has quietly gone live. I say ‘quietly’ because we chose to launch in private beta until we are absolutely certain that every part of this complex website works as it should.

It’s been absolutely fascinating watching the first public transport reports come in, gather supporters, and spread via the power of social media. That is, of course, just what head developer Louise Crow built the site to do, but there are always unknown quantities once software meets actual living, breathing users. Louise is currently being kept exceptionally busy responding to user feedback and implementing suggestions for improvement.

The GeoVation award was, of course, to allow us to add a mobile component to FixMyTransport, and this has mainly fallen to a second of our developers, Dave Whiteland. Thus far, he is deep in the research phase that is vital to any decent application.

This has involved speaking to specialists in the mobile field, a process Dave describes as “useful, especially in the (few) places where they didn’t quite agree”.

The next step was to build a very simple mock-up, focusing on allowing the user to report a problem with as little typing as possible, and with easy-to-press big buttons that Dave hopes will make the report-making process a lot easier when on a bumpy bus or crowded train. This skeleton implementation has already been useful, throwing up some complexities that are better fixed now than way down the line.

A crucial part of the app will be its geolocation component: again, it’s important to get this exactly right if we want people to report problems on the go. Producing a map with a “you are here” marker on it isn’t enough – FixMyTransport aims to do better than that, by proposing not just the nearest station (if you’re on the train), but perhaps also the station(s) you’re most likely to have just come from. We have to think, “passengers are mobile, so what would help most?”

Dave’s also been looking at which parts of the FixMyTransport website are most immediately useful when accessing it via a mobile device – browsing behaviours differ from on a desktop. Therefore it’s likely that the mobile app will signpost different routes through the content.

In all, it’s proving to be an interesting job for the mySociety developers, taking them deeper into areas such as jQuery mobile and responsive web design – and hopefully kitting them out with tools they’ll be able to use in future projects, too.

Myf Nixon
mySociety

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By viv, 19 July, 2011 10:10 am

Cyclestreets, one of our “How can we improve transport in Britain?” GeoVation Challenge winners, have just published the product specification for their cycle campaign toolkit.

This outlines what the toolkit will do, how people and groups will be able to use it, together with a prioritisation of these features.

Cyclestreets plan is to improve the effectiveness of cycling campaign groups by the creation of a user-friendly, web-based toolkit that will enable groups and their members to gather, discuss and make best use of knowledge about the problems faced by cyclists. It will help them to work productively to solve these problems, spreading best practice around the UK, and working where possible with Local Authorities to achieve this.

They are asking for comments from groups around the UK on this draft, and will be publishing a more finalised draft, incorporating comments received, in a week’s time for a deadline of 24 July. Please visit the Cyclestreets blog to view the product specification and leave your comments.

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By viv, 30 June, 2011 8:00 am

Wondering what our ‘How can we improve transport in Britain? GeoVation Challenge winners have been up to since May?  Neil Taylor from Integrated Transport Planning tells us more about what has been happening with AccessAdvisr over the last month:

Since learning that AccessAdvisr had received funding through the GeoVation competition we have been putting the foundations in place to enable our delivery of a proof of concept product in Nottingham over the next 6 months.  This chiefly involved pulling together a tightly focused expenditure and deliverable plan so that both we, and our sponsors, have a common understanding of what we are delivering in return for the funding.

We have spent a lot of time talking to interesting contacts at Nottingham City Council, Loughborough and Nottingham Universities, the RNIB and local mobility impairment groups.  The result is a fantastic series of offers of help and support for the proof of concept product we will be developing.  Our recent chat with RNIB’s innovation team has given us the confidence that we can make AccessAdvisr as visually accessible as possible for people with sight and reading impairments – clearly an important feature for a website and smartphone app that intends to improve the quality and richness of information about accessible transport networks.  Our growing network of contacts here in Nottingham (and elsewhere in the UK) means we are already looking forward to engaging with potential service users through a live trial of AccessAdvisr later in the autumn.

We have also spent a good portion of time in month 1 re-analysing some of our own previous user-needs research.  Blowing the dust off focus group and depth-interview reports produced over the last 10 years has given us the opportunity to revisit what people have previously told us about barriers that prevent them from getting around.  We will be combining this information with practical research undertaken through major research projects such as AuntSue to define the types of information that would make independent travel easier, and exploring how AccessAdvisr can address some of these issues.

Over the course of the next month we will be developing the technical and functional specification for AccessAdvisr.  We will also be appointing an app developer (we are in the process of finding out where they hang out, what they eat/drink, etc!) to work as part of our team to help us bring the proof of concept version of AccessAdvisr to life.  We’ll keep you posted on how things go through the GeoVation Blog.

Neil Taylor (left) and Jon Parker (right) of ITP receive the award

In the meantime if you want to learn more about AccessAdvisr, then please contact Neil Taylor at ITP on 0115 9886903, or email: taylor@itpworld.netNeil Taylor, Integrated Transport Planning Ltd.

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By viv, 21 June, 2011 8:30 am

Simon Parker of London Cycle Map Campaign is one of our ‘How can we improve transport in Britain?’ GeoVation Challenge winners. Below he shares his thoughts on why we need transport alternatives to the car to keep our cities moving:

If you were to look at maps of London as often and for as long as I do, you might find that your imagination wanders on occasion. In my case, I have created a little fantasy. By an as yet undetermined means, I travel back in time to the period just before the railways were developed. Then, with a carte blanche in front of me, I set about recreating London, imagining how the metropolitan area might look with the benefit of hindsight. If only we knew then what we know now!

Anyone who saw these maps would fairly conclude that I am not anti-car. But, like many people––including, I might add, a former CEO of Volvo: ‘Private cars are not a suitable mode of transport in town’––I recognise that large numbers of petrol-driven vehicles driving about the place diminishes the quality of city life. Thus it is that I spend many a fanciful hour considering how to mitigate the car’s less attractive features.

If we were able somehow to start afresh, it is almost impossible to believe that the capital would look much the same as it does now. Don’t get me wrong. I love the randomness of London’s road network, and personally I wouldn’t change that aspect even if I could. But if, as I say, we had ourselves another chance, then surely more emphasis would be placed on alternatives to the car the second time around, including, of course, the bicycle.

It might surprise those of you unfamiliar with the history of the bike to learn that in 1949, 37% of all journeys in London were made by bike (20% nation-wide). The main reason that this enviable position changed was that the bicycle came to be regarded as a poor man’s form of transport. People were looking to move on from the austerity of the post-war years, and with the increasing availability of mass-produced cars, four wheels became more desirable than two.

The car, of course, is more than just about getting from A to B; it’s about status as well. But even though we cannot turn back the clock, we can still wind it up from time to time. Let me conclude with some choice words from Andrew Marr in his programme on Megacities:

If we’re all going to live in the megacity––and it rather looks like most of us will––are we all condemned to a future of choking jams and sweat-packed tube trains? No, I think that maybe, we don’t want to turn our backs on our low-tech past. Maybe Dakha and its half-a-million cycle rickshaws does have something to teach us. Across the globe, and London is gearing up for a three-speed revolution.

To get real change in the city, you need two things: you need pent-up demand on the streets, and you need proper leadership. When the two come together, change can happen very, very fast. A good example would be the London bicycle [hire] scheme. When this got going, a lot of people said, ‘Well, it’s not going to work.’ And within the first ten weeks there were a million journeys made.

There’s no single magic bullet that’s going to solve the megacity transport crisis. We have to snaffle ideas from all over the place, taking smaller, smarter solutions which, when you take them together, can have an impact. London’s first large-scale public bike hire scheme is part of that potential mix.

In the economy of the great cities, they’re always learning and copying and stealing from each other. And it’s not from just the high-tech cities, so Dakha in Bangladesh may be a nightmare, but it’s a nightmare run on pedal-power, and that’s something that modern cities are re-learning. And so to have a transport system that really works, you need everything. You need the taxis, and the cars, and the buses. You need the trains. And you need bicycles, and of course, decent places to be able to walk safely as well. It’s a bit like fusion food, you know, that we eat all the time. You bring in all sorts of lessons, all sorts of flavours, and you mix them up, and with a bit of luck and leadership, you get a city that’s moving again.’

Simon Parker

See Simon’s London Cycle Map

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By viv, 15 June, 2011 8:00 am

If you’re interested in how we ran the ‘How can we improve transport in Britain?’ GeoVation Challenge, the slide show below gives a summary of what happened before, during and after the GeoVation Camp. From identifying the problems at a Problem Framing Workshop  to the weekend camp – it’s all there,  along with some great photos and feedback.

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By viv, 17 May, 2011 8:30 am

London Cycle Map Campaign, one of our ‘How can we improve transport in Britain?‘ GeoVation Challenge winners have produced an exciting new film about the Campaign  ‘London’s True Colours’.

Produced and animated by Stuart France from stuffanimated.com, in partnership with Cycle Lifestyle magazine, the film shows how the capital could be transformed by Simon Parker’s ground-breaking, Tube-style ‘London Cycle Map’.

‘London’s True Colours’ is also available for free viewing on youtube. We hope you’ll enjoy watching it and sharing it with your friends.  And – if you haven’t yet – please do sign the petition for the London Cycle Map Campaign!

This is a great film to understand how the London Cycle Map would work.  Find out more at cyclelifestyle.co.uk.

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By viv, 5 May, 2011 12:41 pm

Well done to everyone who took part in the GeoVation Showcase yesterday at Ordnance Survey’s head office.

After an exciting day of pitching and presentations, the judging panel selected 6 winners from the ‘How can we improve transport in Britain?‘ Challenge to be awarded a share of £160 000 in seed funding (including £10 000 for best use of OS OpenData).

Mission: Explore and myPTP were awarded £36 500 each:

• Mission:Explore, whose  idea is to encourage children and their families to get cycling through completing missions located across the National Cycle Network, also won the Community Prize of £1 000 voted for by those at the Showcase.
• MyPTP, (Personal Transport Planner) idea for a journey planner that enables users to make informed travel choices in real-time.

Three others winners were awarded £27 000:

• CycleStreets with their idea Crowd-sourced cycling solutions. The  funding will help them built their cycling advocacy toolkit to help groups across the country campaign for better cycling facilities.
• My Society plan to implement their idea ‘FixMyTransport- Anywhere!‘ to encourage us all to become micro-activists when we find problems with the transport network.
• @ccessAdvisR whose idea is for a route planner for those with limited mobility to help take the stress out of journeys.

• London Cycle Map Campaign were awarded £6,000 in funding  for their idea of creating a colour coded Tube style map of the Capital’s cycling network.

The winners from our previous challenge  ‘How can Britain feed itself?’ were also awarded their seed funding to take their ideas forward.

• Foodnation - Louise Campbell was awarded £10 000 funding to enable her to develop a location based web and mobile application to promote locally grown food and farms.
• City Farmers – Helen Steer and Peter Boyce were awarded £3 500 to engage communities in local growing schemes using OS OpenData mapping.

PausePlayPlayPrev|Next

Audience participaton

Dan from Mission:Explore pitches

Helen and Peter from City Farmers

The GeoVation judging panel watch the pitches

Louise Campbell from Foodnation

Martin from Cyclestreets pitches

At the GeoVation Showcase

Neil Taylor with AccessAdvisR

Voting for the Community Award

Presentations to winners: AccessAdvisR

GeoVation cakes

Presentations to winners of How can Britain feed itself? - City Farmers

Peter Boyce and Helen Steer of City Farmers

Presentations to winners: Crowd-sourced cycling solutions

At the GeoVation Showcase

Presentations to winners: FixMyTransport Anywhere

Presentations to winners from How can Britain feed itself? Foodnation

GeoVation Judging panel

Presentations to winners: London Cycle Map Campaign

Audience

Ben Irvine and Simon Parker from London Cycle Map Campaign

Presentations to winners: Mission:Explore

Presentations to winners: myPTP

Presentations to finalists: OurMeetingPoint

Kate and Angela from Aberdeen University with OurMeetingPoint

Abby Couriers with their idea Parcel Tracker

James Swanston of Carbon Voyage with Sustainable Mobility Platform

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who has participated in both the challenges.

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By viv, 20 April, 2011 8:30 am

Following our successful ‘How can we improve transport in Britain?’ GeoVation Camp at Ordnance Survey in March, the local Daily Echo newspaper ran an article ‘ Inventors focus on transport’ to tie in with their Save Fuel Campaign, looking at ways around escalating fuel prices.

Nine of the finalists, selected at this weekend will be pitching for a slice of £150 000 funding at the GeoVation Showcase to be held at Ordnance Survey on 4 May.  There are also awards for best use of OS OpenData.  All of the ideas are looking at sustainable ways, using geography,  to improve transport in this country.  If you would like to learn about the ideas and be part of the audience when they pitch ‘Dragon’s Den’ style to our panel of judges register now for your free ticket.

There will also be the opportunity for you to vote for your favourite in the Community Award and network with other innovators, technologists and those involved in food and transport sustainability.