Cycle-Shortcut: Beat the Winding Rails

Web Application
Hackathon
Spatial Analysis
Proposing and visualising a cycle-rail combined way of travel throughout Tokyo; a project as part of the Nishikata Tokotoko Explorers.
Published

January 17, 2025

Overview

Cycle-Shortcut: Beat the Winding Rails is a web application that visualises the possibility of a combined use of cycling and rail transport. In particular, this map explores the notion of the mid-one-mile - connecting between stations midway between transferring stations.

Click above link for best experience.

This was created as a submission for the Open Data Challenge for Public Transport 2024, a competition for open-data based applications.

Components

There are two major components in the web-app, with different users in mind.

Journey Planner / Isopleth

Our first component is the Journey Planner / Isopleth that allows travel between stations if that is an acceptable choice.

The main target is the users of the public transport network, suggesting a new route that incorporates a short cycle ride in between stations, contributing to health, sustainable travel, and all the other benefits cycling has to offer.

Cycle Potential Map

The second component is the Cycle Potential Map which shows the routes that have high potential to be used as a cycling corridor.

This map provides a city-wide scale potential, aimed at planners and cycle hire scheme operators that aim to promote cycling (or the use of their services) within the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

This was calculated using OD-centrality, or a usage-weighted version of betweenness centrality.

Collaborators

Cycle-Shortcut: Beat the Winding Rails was a collaborative project as part of the Nishikata Tokotoko Explorers, a team formed of 4 alumni from the Department of Urban Engineering, the University of Tokyo.

I was the main developer creating the maps using MapLibre.