Introducing: Bike Lane Alerts

Thanks to technology, travelling around cities is now easier, more affordable and more accessible for all. When travelling from A to B, people now have many more options to choose from that are suited to their specific transport needs — and all in the palm of their hand.

We are now launching a campaign to encourage riders and drivers around the world to look over their shoulder before exiting the vehicle, in order to reduce the risk of ‘dooring’ a passing cyclist or scooter rider. As part of this programme, we’re introducing a new tool: Bike Lane Alerts. 

Bike Lane Alerts are part of the Uber app aimed at prompting you to look out for cyclists while exiting the car. If you’re on a trip that ends near a bike lane or along a cycling route, you will receive a message in a pop-up screen towards the end of your ride, reminding you to exit the car cautiously.

Bike Lane Alert is a new, in-app safety feature that makes use of publicly available mapping data to pinpoint where bike lanes and shared roads are in a city. Bike Lane Alert sends riders a push notification informing them that their upcoming drop-off point is near a bike lane or along a cycling route, and it reminds them to look out for people on bikes before opening the door and stepping out of the car. We anticipate that this will help to improve safety for cyclists and users of other two-wheeled transport.

As the experts say, if you increase awareness of safe behaviour, you’ll also increase safety. With this in mind, in addition to introducing the in-app alerts for riders, we’ll also be reminding drivers that it’s illegal to stop in a bike lane in most cities, and encourage them to coordinate safe pickups and drop-offs away from bike lanes. 

Remember: if the cycle lane is bordered by a solid white line, you may not enter the cycle lane. If the white line is broken, you are advised not to enter, but it isn’t illegal to do so. Stopping (or parking) on bike lanes is always prohibited in the Netherlands.