“Cycling is a silver bullet for cities,” remarks Garance Locatelli, a passionate advocate of active travel, who is on a mission to provide clearer wayfinding for those on two wheels.

“Riding a bike gets you out in the fresh air, helps with mental and physical health and is better for social justice, because it brings opportunities to people deprived of public transport.”

But even keen cyclists like Garance can be put off climbing onto the saddle in cities they don’t know very well; for fear of getting lost or ending up on a busy route.

“I've been cycling since I was a student in every city I’ve lived, so consider myself a very confident cyclist, even alongside cars,” she says. “But if you put me in Paris or London and I don't have my phone, how do I get around on a bike? Even if I do have my phone, how do I know I won’t be taken down a road that might have too many buses?”

Online maps exist to promote quieter routes, but Garance says they also need to be highlighted at street level to encourage more people to give cycling a try – and so they don’t have to rely on looking at their phones when they cycle.

Routes mapped in a subway style

To improve cycle wayfinding, Garance teamed up with fellow University of Strathclyde graduate and active travel champion Mark Smith to co-found an SME called Orchy, and launch their wayfinding product ‘Marked’ to help cities and local authorities promote safer cycling infrastructure.

Marked consists of large maps showing key destination points and smaller signs in the street, to provide directions and reassurance to riders that they are following the correct route. The maps feature coloured routes in the style of a subway network – showing key destinations and points of interest – and the signage aims to provide useful (but brief) information for cyclists passing at speed.

Promoted cycle routes are selected based on their level of safety and distinguish between those where riders are segregated from traffic, and those where cyclists share the space. “We select the best route to create a network, she says.

“Our wayfinding uses numbers and not too much text, and has to be as intuitive as possible – but not too intrusive that it distracts others such as car or bus drivers,” she explains. “Our approach provides the minimal amount of information to cyclists to give them the confidence they're on the right route.”

Growing up enjoying cycling

Garance grew up in the French countryside near the city of Lyon. With no public transport available, she remembers the freedom that riding a bike gave her; allowing her to visit friends in the next village. Her parents were keen mountaineers, so she also got used to looking at maps and planning hiking routes from a young age through the local mountain ranges.

Her proximity to nature fuelled a desire to “help save the planet” and early thoughts of a career included being a gardener or an environmental lawyer, before starting out working in active travel to help “change the relationship between our current system and the environment”.

Garance studied social science and literature at university in Lyon, before embarking on a Masters in management at business school EDHEC. She later transferring to the University of Strathclyde to study social innovation and entrepreneurship for her final year. She met Mark Smith and the pair started their business two years ago, going on to participate in several accelerator programmes.

“Graduating from the University of Strathclyde gave us a stamp of recognition that eased the introduction for chats with local councils,” she explains. “We had between 20 and 30 discussions with people from the micro mobility sector, to find out what they thought of our wayfinding system. The echo was generally good, so that gave us confidence to keep going,” she says. “When someone tells you they understand what you do and support you, it gives you a boost.”

Realising a longstanding dream

Marked has been trialled in the Portuguese city of Vila Nova de Gaia, and was further developed through the Transport Research & Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme – delivered on behalf of the Department for Transport by Connected Places Catapult for trial in Glasgow Green.

Garance and Mark were delighted to be given a chance to take forward their innovation with TRIG for the pilot in Scotland. “It was our dream to get onto the programme and we knew that if we did, it would be such an achievement. TRIG enabled us to build on our concept and refine it.”

She says coaching received from the Catapult around public procurement and access to officials at the Department for Transport and Active Travel England were especially helpful.

Earlier this summer, the company won a Chief Scientific Adviser award for the project with the best growth potential at a showcase in Leeds; and in July, a contract was signed with the Highlands & Islands Transport Partnership to install the system in Fort William and the surrounding area.

Moving forward, Garance and Mark will be speaking with more councils and navigation app platforms. “We want to get this integrated into as many places as possible, interact with users and measure the impact.” She adds that their approach allows council officials to identify key gaps in the infrastructure and where investment is most needed.

When asked about cities leading the way on promoting cycling, she points towards Amsterdam and Utrecht in the Netherlands, plus Copenhagen in Denmark. She also singles out the French cities of Strasbourg, Paris, Lyon and Chambéry as doing good work, as well as Barcelona in Spain. “It’s encouraging that many cities around the world are implementing more actions to promote cycling.”

Garance says that in the last three years she has lived in Glasgow, she has noticed an uptick in the numbers of people cycling. “You see more people using cargo bikes – such as parents with their kids. I also feel there's a big difference once you start seeing a woman in a dress cycling to work, and not just someone in sports clothes. It means that people are cycling for the pleasure of it, and for the good of it.”

“We need to talk about cycling in terms of creating new opportunities to combat climate change. It isn’t about telling people they can’t move, but that they can do it differently. In cities, the best way to get around is by public transport, walking and cycling.

“If attitudes become more positive toward cycling, I will be very happy”.

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