More and more people are ditching cars and hopping on bikes. Whether it’s to avoid traffic, go green, or just get some exercise, cycling—both electric and pure muscle power—is blowing up worldwide. Europe’s been ahead of the curve for years with places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen being early adopters. Even France is getting in on the action with incentives for buying bikes and expanding urban cycling networks.
The US on the other hand, has been a bit slow to catch up.
Sure, cities like Portland, Minneapolis, and New York have made some solid moves, but for most urban areas, cycling can still seem like an extreme sport. Thankfully, that’s starting to change. More local governments are realizing that if they want people to bike, they need to make it safer and easier, obviously. And now, new tech is stepping in to help figure out exactly where those changes should happen.
Enter Ann Arbor, Michigan where city officials there teamed up with Pittsburgh-based startup Velo AI to launch a project called CoPilot. The idea? Equip local cyclists with AI-powered cameras that track their rides and collect data. These cameras, mounted on the back of bikes, automatically capture near-miss incidents, how close cars are passing, and even what kinds of vehicles are around.
All that info gets turned into “stress scores” on a map, giving city planners a clear picture of where bike lanes are needed the most. Instead of waiting for accidents to pile up, they can be proactive and fix problem areas before something serious happens.
“A lot of advocacy groups say that for every 100 near-misses, there's going to be one fatality,” said Alison Treaster, Velo AI’s chief of staff. “So we have the opportunity to speed up data collection and say, ‘Hey, we’re seeing a cluster of near-misses here—20 in just a week.’ That way, we don’t have to wait until there’s a tragedy to make changes.”
Of course, this raises some big questions. Even though CoPilot blurs out license plates and faces, some folks worry about privacy. Should cyclists be constantly recorded, even if it’s for safety? And what about pedestrians and drivers—does this kind of tracking cross a line?
These are fair concerns, and they’re part of a bigger conversation about how much tech should be involved in public spaces. But one thing’s for sure, more people are choosing bikes, and cities need to keep up. So let's say AI can actually help make streets safer and get more folks on two wheels, would it be worth exploring then?
And while CoPilot is focused on bicycles and e-bikes, it’s easy to imagine how this kind of AI-powered tech could be used in the motorcycling setting, as well. Riders face many of the same dangers as cyclists—close calls, distracted drivers, and unpredictable traffic conditions. And hey, we're already starting to see this with the advanced radar-powered adaptive cruise control systems on top-tier ADV machines like the Ducati Multistrada V4.
So if a similar system could collect data on near-misses, road hazards, and aggressive drivers, it could at least in theory, help cities pinpoint high-risk areas and implement safety measures like better signage and lane markings. But of course, steps need to be taken to ensure the privacy of everyone involved.
Sources: VeloAI, StreetsBlog USA
