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Using the Velopark data

Velopark wants to make qualitative data about Belgian bicycle parking facilities available in as many applications as possible. The website itself also has a map where you can consult the bicycle sheds, but Velopark is mainly there to make the data available in applications that cyclists use every day. For example digital maps, municipal websites, route planners and smartphones and other applications for cyclists. For example, Velopark is already used by:

The data of Velopark is freely available. Open data means that the information is published freely on the internet and can be used free of charge by anyone who wants to work with it: developers, route planners, maps, websites, bicycle insurance, ...

There are several ways in which you can reuse Velopark data:

Linked Open Data - Catalogus

Velopark uses Linked Open Data to describe the bicycle parkings in Belgium. Linked means that the data is structured in such a way that it can be understood by computers and can be linked to already existing definitions on the Internet. For example, software 'understands' that it is a bicycle shed and can link the data to other concepts, for example:

  • Is there a covered bicycle shed near my bus stop?
  • Will the bicycle parking still be open when my concert ends?
  • Where can I park my cargo bike at the station?

Technically speaking, this means that a data file is created for each bicycle parking, that can be stored anywhere. Velopark keeps a catalog of where all those files are located and what information you can find in them. This way, every application on the internet can consult the correct, up-to-date information.

Linked Open Data is also the principle recommended by, among others, the Flemish Government. The Velopark standard is therefore recognized as an official OSLO standard for describing bicycle parkings.

This Velopark catalog is openly accessible to anyone who wants to link the data to their application: https://data.velopark.be/data/catalog

More information about the specifically developed Velopark data standard can be found on the page Bicycle Parking Facility Vocabulary (in English) and on our Github page. Julian Rojas, who designed the data standard, also wrote a scientific article about it, for which he received several awards.

API (Application Programming Interface)

For some developers and organizations, the use of linked open data is not obvious. We built an API for them. This is an interface that other applications can connect to. The application in question sends a query to the API in a certain format, which provides an answer. For example:

  • Give me all the bicycle sheds in East Flanders.
  • Give me the details of the bicycle shed in Antwerp

Here you will find the link to the API and the documentation which describes how to use the API.

Data export

Would you like to see what the Velopark data looks like and whether you can import it into your GIS environment, for example? We have created a one-time data file with all data from Velopark (Note: this is an export from 02/2021 and therefore not up to date!). The export can be found in our Github repository.

Show bicycle parkings on my own web page

You can also display one or more bicycle sheds on your own web page, without having programming knowledge. This can be done by integrating one line of code (generated by us) into your page. This way, visitors can see the details of your bicycle sheds. The data is automatically synchronized, so as soon as something is changed in Velopark, it will automatically be up to date on your own site too!

How to do this is explained in detail described on this page.