The Data Insights for Active Travel Project

Dublin City Council is piloting innovative technologies and engagement methods to understand how people walk, wheel and cycle across the city. These active travel insights will help shape smarter, safer and more accessible active travel infrastructure throughout Dublin.

The Data Insights for Active Travel Project launched in March 2014.  It improves data collection by replacing ad-hoc methods with a systematic and unified process. The project is a collaboration between the Active Travel Programme Office and the Smart Cities Team, which brings together a wide range of public sector partners. It is supported by the Partnership for Healthy Cities (PHC).

“This project stands as a testament to DCC's commitment to active travel as a cornerstone of health and wellbeing. By integrating advanced monitoring technologies and data visualisation techniques, DCC aims to set a new standard for active travel infrastructure,” said Christopher Manzira, Acting Director of Dublin City Council's Active Travel Programme Office. 

Project Roll-Out

The project has two phases. During the first phase, the Data Insights Team has been sourcing, validating and testing innovative tools to monitor active travel patterns and assess infrastructure safety. These are being tested along two active travel schemes: the Clontarf to City Centre Cycling Corridor and the Kilmainham to Thomas Street Cycling Route. 

The technologies tested to date are:

• VivaCity AI cameras, which capture data on the amount the different infrastructure users (e.g. cyclists, cars, pedestrians) in a certain area.
• Lane Patrol, an AI-based safety assessment tool using international cycle route risk evaluation protocols.
• See.Sense, smart bike lights that crowdsource anonymous journey data from cyclists.

As part of the project, the Dublin Active Travel Dashboard was launched in January 2025. It brings together live and historical data to correlate active travel patterns with infrastructure use, public health projections and climate impact. This work was recognised internationally when it won the prestigious Mobility Award at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2024 in Barcelona.

Community engagement is key to understanding the human side of mobility – including behaviours, motivations and a diversity of experiences. In 2025, the project built on the foundation laid through qualitative research and community engagement activities. Focus groups on children’s mobility were conducted in the North-East Inner City. Additionally, a survey in collaboration with The Trinity Centre for Transport Research and Innovation for People (TRIP) and the ADAPT Research Ireland Centre via University College Dublin (UCD) was launched in May.

During the second phase of the project, these insights will inform the development of an Active Travel Data Toolkit. This resource aims to inform policy-making and active travel project implementation in Dublin. It will also serve as a model to promote active, safe and accessible mobility for other cities through the PHC network.

Project Promotion and Activities

As part of The Data Insights for Active Travel Project, the team participates in and leads a range of workshops and events. This provides an opportunity to collaborate with and share knowledge with global peers.

This project team participated in the annual Partnership for Healthy Cities Summits in 2024 and 2025, which engaged public health leaders from more than 50 cities across the world. In 2024, Dublin City Council also hosted internationally renowned New York City transport advisor, Janette Sadik-Khan, who delivered a keynote speech to Dublin’s transportation stakeholders and members of the business community.

You can view photos of our most recent events in the gallery above. Click on the images to read a blog post about each event.

Listen to Learn More

For those interested in how we are using technology and data to improve active travel, check out the below podcast by VitalTalks: Future of Public Health. The podcast explores the use of technology and data to improve active travel, promote road safety and create healthier and safer cities. It features Jamie Cudden, Dublin City Council’s Smart City Lead, who discusses our data project.

Constanza Jimena Delón Córdoba, Director of Road Safety Information Monitoring at Mexico City's Mobility Department, also contributes. Both Dublin and Mexico City are part of the Partnership for Healthy Cities. Both cities act as innovation labs, sharing their experiences and learnings with other cities. The podcast conversation highlights the importance of community engagement and data-driven decision-making.

Do you have an idea?

The Data Insights for Active Travel Project is constantly evolving, and the team is open to new ideas. Let us know how we should collect data from your community. If you have any suggestions or questions, contact us at [email protected].

Our Project Partners

Dublin City Council’s Smart City team and Active Travel Programme Office work alongside several partners on this project.

• The Partnership for Healthy Cities: A prestigious global network of over 74 cities committed to saving lives by preventing non-communicable diseases and injuries. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with WHO and Vital Strategies, it aims to do this by enabling cities to deliver high-impact interventions.
• National Transport Authority: This government agency is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to provide high-quality and accessible sustainable transport across Ireland.
• ADAPT: The world-leading SFI Research Centre for AI Driven Digital Content Technology hosted by Trinity College.
• The Trinity Centre for Transport Research and Innovation for People: A centre that delivers dynamic interdisciplinary research on a range of topics, including electric vehicles, cycling, traffic congestion, health impacts of transport, quality of life and safety.