A new approach to traffic data analysis has given Pittsburgh valuable insight into how it can make its streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The city contracted with StreetLight Data to measure auto, foot and bicycle traffic. StreetLight then overlayed the data with maps of where bike and pedestrian accidents occurred to give the city a better idea of where to prioritize traffic safety measures among the city’s 1,300 core roadway miles…

The project used data StreetLight collected, mainly from the pre-pandemic years of 2015-2019, that shows where people were riding and walking. StreetLight tracks movement via data from cellphones and GPS navigation aides to determine when and where trips start and end. It can largely tell the type of travel by speed, the company said. Even if auto traffic moves at a rush-hour crawl, it can still estimate whether it’s a bike or car by the length of the trip.