RideSafeUM Will Begin Testing Its App in Barcelona, Rome, and Thessaloniki in September

• The RideSafeUM project is entering the final phase of its first year of progress in which pilots will be conducted in three European cities
• The pilots will test a micromobility app and dashboard to improve rider safety and prevent accidents
• The project, led by CARNET, is co-financed by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union

During the months of September to December, both the RideSafeUM application and the dashboard will be tested in the cities of Barcelona (Spain), Rome (Italy), and Thessaloniki (Greece). The main objective of these pilot tests is to validate RideSafeUM’s functionalities in real-life situations and in different urbanistic and social contexts. RideSafeUM is an initiative born out of the need to improve the safety of micro-mobility users in urban areas, as well as for pedestrians and other drivers.

In the cities of Rome and Thessaloniki, the pilots will be carried out in collaboration with the project partners Dott and Thessbike respectively, who will provide more than 300 personal mobility vehicles for the project. In the city of Barcelona, on the other hand, participation in the pilot will be based entirely on private users.

The results of the pilot will be useful to test the validity of the RideSafeUM system, assess its effectiveness and, most importantly, detect possible issues and areas for improvement in order to lay the groundwork for the next year of development.

These pilots are open to everyone and to participate you can visit the project website, where you will find all the required information.

The fact that micro-mobility is a sustainable, simple, affordable, and healthy mode of transport has led to a significant increase in the use of bicycles and scooters in recent years, especially in urban environments. One of the main problems with this method of transport is rider safety, and the increase in the use of this type of vehicle, the entry of inexperienced users, and the lack of knowledge of traffic regulations have had a direct impact on an increase in accidents in recent years.

With this premise, the RideSafeUM project aims to develop a solution that proactively prevents micro-mobility users from committing infractions, provides an adequate reaction in case of an accident, and allow data collection so that public entities can learn and undertake policies that benefit mobility in the city by making it safer. Specifically, the solution consists of two parts: Firstly, a smartphone application aimed at micro-mobility users that provides real-time information on regulations, including warnings about speeding, access or parking bans, while also detecting accidents, and secondly, an online dashboard aimed at cities that allows them to easily update regulations, receive notifications about accidents and perform data analysis.

For more information, visit the project website: https://ridesafeum.com/