Inspiration
As a daily cyclist in Berlin, I grew frustrated with generic route apps that ignored bike-specific needs – no focus on dedicated lanes, elevation, or e-bike battery life. I wanted a tool that prioritized cyclists first, blending safety, practicality, and joy for urban riders like me and my community.
What it does
BikeRoute Planner generates four tailored cycling routes (safest/fastest/flattest/scenic) for urban commuters. It syncs with leading e-bike brands to adjust routes for battery levels, displays real-time road alerts, visualizes elevation profiles, and tracks monthly stats like CO₂ savings and calories burned.
How we built it
We started with mapping out core user needs (interviews with local cyclists), then built a React frontend for the route planner/display pages. Backend (Node.js) handled route optimization logic, while we integrated e-bike brand APIs for battery sync and elevation APIs for slope analysis. Chart.js powered stats visualization, and Leaflet mapped routes with color-coding for each route type.
Challenges we ran into
The biggest hurdle was balancing route optimization logic – ensuring the "safest" route didn’t sacrifice too much efficiency, and the "fastest" didn’t compromise on safety. E-bike API integration also had brand-specific quirks (different data formats), and real-time alert syncing required workarounds for spotty traffic data in less dense urban areas.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We created a tool that truly centers cyclist needs – beta testers (local commuters) reported 30% fewer stressful rides, and e-bike users loved the battery-saving route adjustments. The elevation profile visualization also became a fan favorite for casual riders avoiding steep hills.
What we learned
We deepened our understanding of user-centric design – iterating based on cyclist feedback was far more valuable than perfecting logic in a vacuum. We also learned to adapt to inconsistent API data, building fallback systems for real-time alerts and elevation data.
What's next for this project
We plan to expand support for more e-bike brands, add turn-by-turn navigation, and integrate local municipal bike lane data to keep routes hyper-local. We’re also exploring a community feature for riders to report road conditions, making the tool even more responsive to real-world needs.
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