DutchCycling Lifestyle Tool nominated in Webby Awards
The software allows users across the world to visualise their street, only Netherlands-style, with a focus on active travel.
Powered by artificial intelligence [AI], simply enter your address into the platform’s search function, and it will automatically source images captured for Google Street View. Another click of a button when prompted to ‘Reinvent Your Street’ puts the mechanics to work, and quickly renders a number of different ways in which the road could be transformed with more nature and net zero in mind.
Launched last autumn, the DutchCycling Lifestyle Tool has now been nominated in the Webby Awards, which celebrate excellence on the internet. Winner are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and public vote, with two winners selected for each category. The first ceremony took place in 1996.
The potential changes that can be seen include expansive greening, the introduction of clearly defined cycle lanes and a widening of pavements – all key design choices taken by local authorities when trying to encourage more people to take up active travel. According to a study by the University of Denmark in 2022, if every country on the planet had cycling cultures comparable to the Dutch, around 20% of the total carbon emissions from the world’s combined passenger car fleet would be saved.
In the UK, councils are increasingly looking to European models for investment in alternative transport modes which can reduce reliance on cars and other internal combustion engines. While pressure is mounting to speed up the rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure, it is widely agreed that transition to low-emission engines will do little to tackle problems such as congestion, and most models still produce emissions, for example fine particulate matter from tyres.
You can check out the DutchCycling Lifestyle Tool here.
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Image: DutchCycling