How Strava Metro Data Inform Planning and Decision-Making

The mobile app Strava, which incorporates social networking features, is a popular tool for tracking physical activity. Starting out tracking mostly outdoor cycling and running activities using Global Positioning System data, Strava now incorporates various other exercise types including indoor activities. Strava just announced the ten-year anniversary of Metro, the web platform that provides data insights to make active transportation better for cyclists and pedestrians. With Metro, Strava's goal is to power smarter and more sustainable infrastructure globally and to give back to the communities that support millions of users around the world.

Created in 2013, Metro provides de-identified, aggregated bicycle and pedestrian trip insights to planners, advocacy groups, researchers, and other interested parties. Active community members who have opted-in and track their trips on Strava are anonymously feeding into the Metro dataset and in turn, helping planners and transportation experts in their communities to understand mobility patterns, identify opportunities for investment, and evaluate the impact of infrastructure changes, giving more opportunity through improved transportation access.

Examples of organizations that have successfully applied Strava Metro data include the Atlanta Department of Transportation, Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, the city of Paris, and the government of Catalonia. Globally, users have uploaded more than eight billion activities to Strava and nearly five billion miles traveled by walking or cycling. When the community contributes their activities to Metro, they become a critical part of one of the world’s largest collections of mobility data.