Editor’s note: Today's article comes from Tanguy Goretti, CTO and Founder, and Amy Grimshaw, Director of Communications at e-bike company Cowboy. They share how Cowboy is providing in-app navigation to offer riders multiple route choices, more accurate distances and arrival times, and real-time air quality with Google Maps Platform and Navigation SDK.
Commuting by car can be painfully slow—often even slower than the horse and cart it was designed to replace. So for those who don’t want to waste their time sitting in traffic, Cowboy e-bikes are the perfect solution. Faster, cheaper, healthier, and greener than cars, our design-led bikes are not only a more convenient way to get around, they’re great fun too.
All our e-bikes are packed full of features because we want the 20 minutes our customers spend riding them to be the best 20 minutes of their day. Adaptive Power, for instance, continually adjusts the pedal resistance to make hills feel flat and heavy loads feel weightless. Meanwhile, our connected digital technology allows riders to challenge themselves and other riders to travel further, stay fitter, and reach new goals with multi-level pedaling challenges and city-wide leaderboards.
One feature, however, was proving an uphill struggle for our riders: our previous navigation tool. Riders often told us that consumer Google Maps provided better routes and would leave the Cowboy app to access its navigation. Determined to provide our riders the best experience, we decided to make the switch to Google Maps Platform.
Choosing a new route with Google Maps Platform
We became a trusted tester of the Navigation SDK for Android and iOS and have tested the integration and other Google Maps Platform features extensively over the last year. Working closely with the Google Maps Platform team, we customized our in-app navigation to offer riders multiple route choices, more accurate distances and arrival times, and real-time air quality for each route so riders could choose the cleanest journey. With Google Maps navigation integrated in the Cowboy app, our riders no longer need to leave our app to navigate to their destination, simplifying their experience by having relevant helpful information all in one place, reducing errors and keeping the rider’s eyes on the road.
Navigation SDK allowed us to customize the navigation experience. We are able to now overlay bike battery data and the riders’ speed onto the map to show them whether they have enough battery life to reach their destination. We wouldn’t be able to offer these features if we were using another mapping platform—they’re all thanks to the customizability of the Navigation SDK.
Finding our way to safer cities
Our riders’ safety is extremely important to us, and with Google Maps Platform we’re able to implement even more features to protect riders. With integrated sensors, our bikes can tell if a rider has fallen and automatically alert their emergency contacts in the event of an accident. Those contacts can then use Google Maps Platform to pinpoint the rider’s location and ensure they get help.
We’re also using the Navigation SDK to prevent accidents. By integrating our global crash hotspot data into the Navigation SDK, we can send predictive alerts when riders approach a dangerous junction, helping to keep them safe. We’re also able to share that data with city administrations to improve the junctions themselves and make our cities even more bike friendly.
Securing bikes with anti-theft technology
One of the biggest concerns people have when choosing to invest in an e-bike is security and we go to great lengths to secure our riders’ bikes against theft, too. With built-in sensors, our bikes immediately alert their owners if someone is trying to steal their bike. If the bike is stolen, the rider can now use the built in Navigation SDK in the Cowboy app to track and find their bike. With this data, 90% of Cowboy bikes are recovered in the first five days after a theft. This is also acting as a deterrent with thefts of Cowboys dropping to half the rate of other e-bikes.
We’re also now integrating our data on bike theft hotspots into the Navigation SDK to alert riders if they’re parking their bike in a potentially unsafe location, further helping to keep their bikes secure.
The journey continues
Since implementing Navigation SDK in our Android and iOS apps, we’ve seen a 66% increase in the number of riders using our in-app navigation function, and a 30% reduction in the number of riders contacting support due to suboptimal routing recommendations. It’s clear to us that with Google Maps Platform we’re giving riders the navigation features they need and are familiar with to move quickly and safely around their cities.
Our journey isn’t over yet. We’re currently looking at how we can offer our riders a wider choice of routes, as well as more ways to interact with each other as they use their bikes to stay active and healthy. Key to getting us where we want to go is Google Maps Platform, helping us to get more people into the saddle, as we ride together towards the future of clean travel.
