Hoping to improve active mobility conditions in the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, the Azur association is launching a local branch of Vigilo. But what exactly is it?
It is a collaborative application that allows cyclists and pedestrians to report difficulties related to infrastructure and nuisances encountered during their travels. A boon for bike users in the municipality! Designed in “OpenSource” mode at the initiative of the Montpellier collective #JeSuisUnDesDeux and already used in more than 20 cities and metropolitan areas, the Vigilo application encourages users to report factual elements observed in the field.
The private security of users respected
Observations, whether concerning obstacles on sidewalks or bike paths, poorly designed layouts, or other active mobility issues, are a more than valuable source for improving travel conditions. A key feature of the application is its strict respect for privacy. All elements that could identify a person, such as license plates and faces are systematically blurred before the observations are published. Nice à Vélo ensures on its part that “the application is used in an ethical and constructive manner.”
Facilitating dialogue between citizens
Building a safer and, in fact, more pleasant active mobility environment? This is the primary goal of the association, which also hopes to collaborate with the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis to perhaps contribute to the creation of a community where walking and cycling are preferred modes of transportation.
It should be noted that the City of Nice currently offers the mobile application “Allo Mairie,” allowing residents to report various incidents, incivilities, and technical problems, with very satisfactory response and reactivity rates depending on the nature of the problem. Nice à Vélo is explicit on the subject: Vigilo does not aim to replace it. Rather, it presents itself as “a complementary tool specifically dedicated to active mobility.”
Unlike Allo Mairie, Vigilo offers users the possibility to make more detailed observations about the design of facilities, or to report the locations of noticed accidents, indicate the absence of bike parking, or even alert on places where bike thefts or damages have been observed.
