Beeline Road Rating: What you need to know

A very exciting new Beeline project

Our world is changing. And so are we.

Over the last year, we’ve been working on a very special project...we can’t tell you all about it just yet, but we would love for you, our brilliant Beeline community, to get involved first! In fact, we need you to get involved.

We need you to rate your roads (jump down to “How to get involved” if you are itching to get going, or keep reading if you want more info).

We need your help!

We've seen the trusty old bicycle emerge as a pretty perfect way of meeting global challenges that have come our way in recent years: climate change, coronavirus, cramped commuting…  We say pretty perfect because there’s a piece of the puzzle missing; knowledge sharing.

What if we could share the knowledge of what it’s like to be on a bike? What if we could give each other, and all of the brave (but cautious) new cyclists we’ve seen take to the saddle recently, a head’s up about what to expect where? And what to avoid at all costs? What to look forward to, and what to prepare for?

Maps and mapping software are key to helping us get around, but they are two-dimensional tools. They can tell us how to get from A to B, but they can’t tell us about how pot-holey a particular road is, or about crazy lane-crossings at particular junctions.

What if they could?

The beauty (and pain!) of travelling by bike is that we truly experience the roads we ride along - we know the chaotic corners and nerve-jangling junctions, we know the stretches where the cycle lane suddenly stops and we’re left to go it alone alongside massive lorries and speeding mopeds, we feel every jolt of jumbled paving and the smoothness of a freshly tarmacked road.

After all, we believe that cycling should be an enjoyable experience. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could make it as enjoyable as possible?

How to get involved

Starting today, we’re inviting you to get involved with rating your roads.

You’ll be able to opt into doing this (and we hope you will!) within the app. Once you’ve counted yourself into the community, you’ll see a little - and + on either side of your Beeline screen while you’re riding.

The Beeline road rating experience.

If you are enjoying cycling down a road, or stretch of road, and would like to ride on more roads like that, give it a +. If you’re not, and would prefer to avoid them, give it a -. If you’re indifferent, no need to rate it at all. It’s as simple as that!

Different people will probably have different measures of enjoyability so don’t overthink it: just go with your gut. We care about knowing what works (or doesn’t) for you. Of course, if you are on a white knuckle stretch, hold on! If it’s not safe to rate, wait. If you rate immediately before or after a section, your rating will be attributed to the right spot.

You will be able to see the roads you have rated any time in the Beeline app. And, eventually, the knowledge that you have shared will help us to build something that, we think, will be truly awesome. More on that soon! For now: let’s get riding and rating.

Thank you for your help. Oh and, as always, if you have any questions or suggestions please let us know!

The serious stuff:

The data that you provide through rating roads with Beeline is used solely to improve the service that we provide to you. Whether that’s the routing you’re given, or the directions you follow on your device. This geolocation data is only available to us if you provide your consent in the app.

There may come a time when the awesome community that you’re a part of can provide insights to third-parties that will be game-changing to the way we move around. We’ll keep this level of transparency as we know your privacy matters. We hope you would like to be a part of something that is a force for change in the world. If not, just let us know and we promise to respect your rights.