Strava heatmap is terrible. It is heavily biased toward experienced (and often very fit/quick) recreational/sport/fitness cyclists.
I'm a very experienced cyclist and I don't upload my 'transportation' rides. It's not worth it. So all the data from me riding a particular route twice, five times a week - as well as my preferred routes to various activities, shopping, etc - doesn't make it into strava. My fun / training rides do.
Strava ride uploads tend to come from more confident and willing to ride on roads that are more intimidating or require confident riding techniques to be safe (such as riding at the edge of a bike lane, or on a multi-lane road, taking the lane). Cycling in urban settings is much less intimidating if you're fit and able to accelerate quickly and bike at closer to the average speed of traffic (which often really isn't that fast.) Drivers are a lot less prone to "punish passes" and other dangerous behavior if you're fast.
They may ride a particular road that is terrible for cycling but they have no other choice because of where they are coming from or going to, and because they tend to ride a lot, they'll bias the heatmap. One of my favorite routes to ride involved an utter shitshow of 5 minutes worth of riding, and I took that road several times a week.
It should also be known that Strava tries to play up their "we make data available for city urban planners and cycling advocates!" to their userbase...and then turns around and charges an obscene amount of money.
Speaking of money: strava data means you miss the vast majority of people riding bicycles - those on the very lowest rungs of the economic ladder. They don't have GPS activity watches or GPS bike computers, they don't give a damn about recording their ride to/from work/school; they may not even have a smartphone, period. They don't have 12+ hours of leisure time a week to go for rides for fun, etc.
Bike advocacy groups are increasingly trying to account for these folks, because they're largely "invisible" - they don't sign up for newsletters from bike committees and advocacy groups, they often are riding outside "9-5" commute hours because they're working shifts/nights and riding to/from neighorhoods wealthier folks do. Most people think that in any given city the predominant cycling demographic is hipster programmers on track bikes...not realizing how many cyclists are maintenance/cleaning/construction/food service workers are out on the roads while they're asleep.
As a mapper (into OSM), the Strava Heatmap is one of the most valuable things ever for mapping off-road trails. I've found nothing more accurate for actual trail locations than the heatmap. The only thing that comes close is multiple passes with a high quality hand held GPS receiver, taken when the leaves are down.
I'm a very experienced cyclist and I don't upload my 'transportation' rides. It's not worth it. So all the data from me riding a particular route twice, five times a week - as well as my preferred routes to various activities, shopping, etc - doesn't make it into strava. My fun / training rides do.
Strava ride uploads tend to come from more confident and willing to ride on roads that are more intimidating or require confident riding techniques to be safe (such as riding at the edge of a bike lane, or on a multi-lane road, taking the lane). Cycling in urban settings is much less intimidating if you're fit and able to accelerate quickly and bike at closer to the average speed of traffic (which often really isn't that fast.) Drivers are a lot less prone to "punish passes" and other dangerous behavior if you're fast.
They may ride a particular road that is terrible for cycling but they have no other choice because of where they are coming from or going to, and because they tend to ride a lot, they'll bias the heatmap. One of my favorite routes to ride involved an utter shitshow of 5 minutes worth of riding, and I took that road several times a week.
It should also be known that Strava tries to play up their "we make data available for city urban planners and cycling advocates!" to their userbase...and then turns around and charges an obscene amount of money.
Speaking of money: strava data means you miss the vast majority of people riding bicycles - those on the very lowest rungs of the economic ladder. They don't have GPS activity watches or GPS bike computers, they don't give a damn about recording their ride to/from work/school; they may not even have a smartphone, period. They don't have 12+ hours of leisure time a week to go for rides for fun, etc.
Bike advocacy groups are increasingly trying to account for these folks, because they're largely "invisible" - they don't sign up for newsletters from bike committees and advocacy groups, they often are riding outside "9-5" commute hours because they're working shifts/nights and riding to/from neighorhoods wealthier folks do. Most people think that in any given city the predominant cycling demographic is hipster programmers on track bikes...not realizing how many cyclists are maintenance/cleaning/construction/food service workers are out on the roads while they're asleep.