Rating Objects
From Cyclopath
Contents |
[edit] Ratings are your personal opinions
Rate objects according to your own personal opinion of how much you like them. For example, rate blocks according to how you like riding on them, not how you think your friends or anyone else would like them.
The Cyclopath system uses sophisticated techniques to estimate the ratings you would make on objects you haven't yet rated. These techniques do not work if you rate objects according to how you think someone else might like them. They also account for different cyclists having different opinions about the same things, so you don't need to worry about your ratings causing problems for others who don't think like you.
[edit] Ratings are private
Your ratings are private to you, and we consider them confidential. See our privacy policy for details.
[edit] What the block ratings mean
Rating blocks uses a 5-level scale:
This scale is preliminary. Comments and suggestions welcome; please post on the talk page.
- Excellent: These places are the best options. I would go out of my way to ride here.
- Good: I like to ride here.
- Fair: Riding here is fine, but I prefer to ride elsewhere.
- Poor: I would go out of my way to avoid riding here, but I would would do it if necessary.
- Impassable: I would never ride here.
Note that blocks rated impassable are blacklisted by the route-finder. You will never be routed over such a block, even if you have to travel around the world to avoid it or there is no route at all without it.
[edit] Video tutorial
[edit] Benefits of entering lots of bikeability ratings
Rating blocks has two benefits:
- You share your knowledge with other cyclists who don't have it, helping them.
- Cyclopath learns how you think, so it can better predict how you would rate blocks that aren't familiar to you.
The more you rate, the more these benefits apply.
[edit] Estimated ratings
All blocks have an estimated rating. It appears at the top of the colored box that shows your personal rating. It will be used by the route finder for blocks that you haven't rated (marked as don't know in the box). It also determines the draw color of blocks you haven't rated (shades of gray).
Estimated ratings are currently calculated using the following. The first available method for a particular block is what is used.
Note: Cyclopath is a research system, and Cyclopath HQ may change the estimation method without notice. See User Agreement for more about how Cyclopath is used for research.
- Average user rating, if enough people have rated.
- A formula based on more or less all the objective info in the Basic and Advanced panels, plus average daily traffic (which is not displayed in the panels), if there's enough such info that has been set. The formula is based on the Chicago Bike Federation (CBF) formula, under "CBF Bicycle Map Criteria 7" at http://bikelib.org/roads/roadnet.htm, with some tweaks.
- A simple guess based on what type the block is (major road = poor, etc).
In the future, estimated ratings will also be calculated/adjusted according to a personal profile based on how you have rated blocks.
[edit] Potential pitfalls
It is possible to cause the "Can't Find Route" error if too many blocks are rated Impassable. Rating blocks Impassable tells the route finder that you never, ever would ride there, no matter what, so if Impassable blocks are the only way to get to a place, the route finder will give up.
More details on identifying the problem and suggestions for fixing it are on Troubleshooting "Can't Find Route".
