San Jose Cycling

San José is the third-largest city in California and the largest city in Silicon Valley. Located in Santa Clara County, it is a world-renowned technological hub, home to many high-tech companies, startups, and research institutions. The intersection of East San Fernando Street and 3rd Street is a central part of downtown San José. Surrounded by commercial buildings, restaurants, and other amenities, it is a busy intersection for all types of transportation from cycling to walking and driving. With a recent spike in sustainable transport and more commuters opting to bike around the city, the busy intersection no longer meets the needs of all its daily users.

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) raises money to make bicycling safer and more fun for everyone. Their annual ‘Bike to the Future’ major cycling event highlights the importance of meeting cyclists’ needs in cities by bringing them together in huge numbers. At the same time, the City of San José’s Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking to redesign a number of different intersections around the city to accommodate more eco-friendly modes of transportation. The DOT wanted to be able to showcase its plans for new infrastructure and gather public feedback before implementation, particularly highlighting plans with the cyclists at Bike to the Future. 

To meet the needs of the citizens, the SVBC, DOT and the area’s cyclists, we took the DOT’s proposed design drafts and overlaid them on the existing junction to give citizens a chance to see the bicycle infrastructure of the future.

Naturally, before a city rolls out new infrastructure there is a lot of planning and designing involved. With such major transitions proposed at intersections throughout the city, there were very detailed plans available for the future of East San Fernando Street and 3rd Street.

We created an exact model of the new proposal before enabling people to overlay it on the real-world intersection through their phones. This enables better visualisation of future bicycle infrastructure exactly where it is going to be installed. We also created characters such as pedestrians and cyclists, all of which show where the new traffic will flow and highlights how the junction will better accommodate all users.

Augmented reality (AR) city plan mapping makes it easier for the public to engage with the proposed cycling infrastructure. Citizens can use their smartphones to explore the new design and engage with the planners. This increased engagement fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration in the planning process, leading to more informed decisions and greater community support while giving the end users a voice in the process.

It also allows city planners to visualise their proposals exactly where they will be placed to provide a clear understanding of how the new infrastructure would fit into the current urban environment. Visualisation on top of the real site helps to identify potential challenges or opportunities and potential conflicts or errors - saving money in the long run by foreseeing issues in advance of construction. Planners can use the technology to visualise different scenarios and test their feasibility before implementing any actual modifications. This ensures that the infrastructure remains adaptable to the city's evolving needs. A true visual representation facilitates better understanding and communication.