From Open Mobility Data to Urban Analytics: An Interactive Platform for Exploring Cycling Patterns in Valencia

Source abstract

This article presents the Bike Urban Analytics Platform (BUAP), an open-source platform integrating historical and real-time cycling data for urban mobility analysis and decision support. BUAP uses historical data covering 2012–2024 (with partial coverage for 2024) from Valencia’s expanding network of inductive loop detectors, currently comprising 134 sensors, and provides interactive temporal and spatial exploration together with a natural-language query interface. Exploration of the historical dataset reveals recurrent temporal patterns, including three daily peaks, weekday dominance, and marked seasonality, with an August trough and an October peak. A stable-panel analysis of 58 detectors showed a 79% increase in recorded cycling intensity between 2014 and 2023. As a complementary statistical case study, cycling mobility during Valencia’s Fallas festival (15–19 March) was examined across eight editions. Cycling intensity was lower during Fallas than in the preceding period in all editions, with statistically significant differences in seven, while hourly patterns shifted from typical commuting periods toward relatively greater nighttime and early-morning activity. These differences are interpreted as patterns associated with the Fallas period rather than as an isolated causal event effect. Overall, BUAP provides a potentially transferable framework for data-informed urban mobility analysis and management during major cultural and tourism-related events.