Who said cycling and new technology are two different animals? They are not, and ECF' B-Track-B project has been out there to prove it for one year now. B-Track-B stands for “Bike the track, track the bike” and is a system that allows people in cities to track how much they cycle, earn points and stay motivated.

Based on successful pilot projects executed in Denmark and the Netherlands, B-Track-B is now being used in 7 cities around Europe (Fredericia/Denmark, Helmond and IJburg/Netherlands, Venice/Italy, Algarve/Portugal, Münster/Germany and Ljubljana/Slovenia). The B-Track-B project combines cycling, traditional km counters, and game elements, using a smartphone app that participants can download.

It’s technology - but it’s not rocket science

It might sound complicated but it is in fact very simple. Participants can register to get an RFID chip attached to their bike. The participating city then installs counters that register the chips whenever someone passes the counter. Every time this the counter picks up the RFID chip, the cyclist earns points. Afterwards, people can compare their points to find out who is the most eager cyclist. Some cities even offer a rewards scheme for cyclists with the most points.

B-Track-B’s first year-end report will be one of the highlights of Velo-city Global 2014 Adelaide. Velo-city will not only offer the opportunity to share these preliminary results, but will also be an opportunity to present the campaigns that the participating cities ran to promote the project and cycling in general. Here’s a sneak peek: more than 700 families have registered during the first year…

Getting families to cycle more

Indeed, the main target groups of the B-Track-B concept are families with children aged 9 to 15 that live in urban areas. Due to their complex mobility patterns, they are the group that is using the private car more often than others. Yet, most of their trips are less than 5km long – a distance for which cycling is the perfect fit. The aim of B-Track-B is to motivate such families to ditch the car in favor of bikes more often, and getting the kids to cycle more.

It works to encourage parents as well. “I didn’t like that my son had more points than me,” one participating mother said, “so I cycled more often.” Nothing like some friendly competition to get people cycling!

You can still take part! Are you also interested to join B-track-B? Send an e-mail to h.hendriks@ecf.com