What Is a Bike Route Safety Score?
A bike route safety score is a single number — most often on a 0–100 scale — that summarizes how safe a cycling route is based on measurable infrastructure and conditions. Brakeaway calls this number your Safety Prediction: every route is broken into segments, each segment is scored from real map data, and the result tells you what to expect before you clip in. This page explains exactly how the score works, penalty by penalty.
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Why a single safety score matters
Most cycling apps give you a route. Very few tell you how safe that route actually is. A 12-mile commute that runs through three unprotected arterial crossings is not the same ride as a 13-mile commute along a car-free corridor — even though your mapping app treats them as near-identical options ranked by time.
A safety score collapses dozens of variables into one number so you can compare two candidate routes at a glance. It answers the question every new urban cyclist, every e-bike commuter, and every parent planning a kid's ride wants answered before they clip in: is this route actually safe enough for me today?
That's also why Brakeaway calls it a Safety Prediction rather than a guarantee. The number is a structural read on the route — infrastructure, crossings, speed, and conditions, measured and weighted. It can't promise an incident-free ride; it tells you how one route compares to another.
How the score is actually calculated
Brakeaway splits your route into segments and scores each one from OpenStreetMap infrastructure data — the same collaborative map data used by major navigation apps. Every segment starts from an infrastructure baseline, then earns penalties and bonuses. Your route's overall score is the average across segments, minus a penalty for total mileage on busy roads.
Step 1 — Infrastructure baseline
The single biggest driver of your score is what your wheels are actually rolling on:
| Segment type | Baseline |
|---|---|
| Car-free path, greenway, or protected trail | 95 |
| Physically protected bike lane (curb, bollard, barrier) | 85 |
| Painted bike lane | 72 |
| Quiet living street / residential street | 65–75 |
| Shared-lane markings (sharrows) | 58 |
| Road shoulder | 52 |
| Secondary arterial, no bike infrastructure | 35 |
| Highway-class road, no bike infrastructure | ≤15 |
The gap between a painted lane (72) and a physically protected one (85) is deliberate: paint doesn't stop a car. The gap between both of those and a car-free path (95) reflects the strongest finding in cycling-safety research — physical separation from motor traffic is what makes routes safe.
Step 2 — Crossing and intersection penalties
- Signalized crossing: −5 points — signals help, but intersections are still where conflicts happen
- Unmarked or uncontrolled crossing: −15 points — the riskiest moments on any ride
- Other marked crossings: −8 points
Step 3 — Speed, lanes, and grade
- Speed limits: penalties begin at 25 mph (−4) and climb to −15 at 50 mph+. Vehicle speed is the strongest predictor of crash severity.
- Lane count: more lanes mean more crossing exposure — −4 for 2 lanes up to −12 for 4+.
- Steep descents: grades beyond −6% take a penalty; braking distance and control both suffer downhill.
Step 4 — Surface, lighting, and traffic calming
- Gravel or dirt on a road with traffic: −12 — loose surface where cars are is dangerous. The same surface on a car-free trail costs nothing, because park trails and greenways are safe on gravel.
- Cobblestones: −12 on roads, minimal on separated paths.
- Street lighting: +3 bonus.
- Traffic calming (speed bumps, chicanes, chokers): +2 bonus — slower cars are safer cars.
Step 5 — Route-level adjustments
- Busy-road mileage: your overall score drops for every mile spent on busy roads, on top of the per-segment penalties.
- Live weather: rain, low visibility, and bad conditions apply a penalty at analysis time.
- Live traffic: heavy congestion on your route's roads lowers the prediction for that ride.
What counts as a "good" score?
- 90–100 — Very Safe. Predominantly car-free or physically separated. Suitable for kids, nervous new riders, and cargo-bike passengers.
- 75–89 — Safe. Strong protected infrastructure with brief unprotected transitions. A typical commute in a well-built network.
- 60–74 — Moderately Safe. Mixed. Protected segments plus some unprotected streets or busier crossings. Fine for riders comfortable in light traffic.
- 45–59 — Ride With Caution. Meaningful exposure to unprotected traffic. Often fixable: one avoided intersection or one parallel street can move a route up a band.
- 30–44 — Risky. Substantial time on busy, unprotected roads. Worth rerouting.
- Below 30 — Unsafe. Not recommended without significant rerouting. Brakeaway's AI planner can suggest safer alternatives.
The bands are set so a 90+ means something concrete: anyone could ride this. A 60 means "rideable if you're comfortable around some traffic." Scores below 30 usually mean an unprotected high-speed arterial makes up too much of the route.
Why your score can change day to day
The infrastructure part of your Safety Prediction is stable — a protected lane doesn't disappear overnight. But Brakeaway applies live weather and traffic penalties when you analyze, so the same route can score a few points lower in a rainstorm at rush hour than on a dry Sunday morning. That's intentional: the score describes the ride you're about to take, not an abstract average.
How to use your score
- Compare candidates, not absolutes. Two routes to the same destination can differ by 30+ points. Take the higher one — that's the entire point of the number.
- Check the segment map. Brakeaway colors every segment of your route. A 70 route with one red segment is a different decision than a uniform 70.
- Fix the weak link. Most routes in the 45–74 range have one or two bad segments dragging the average. Reroute around them and re-analyze.
- Re-check in bad weather. The live penalties are there for a reason.
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Frequently asked questions
How is a bike route safety score calculated?
Brakeaway splits your route into segments and scores each from OpenStreetMap data: an infrastructure baseline (car-free path 95, protected lane 85, painted lane 72, down to ≤15 for highway-class roads), then penalties for risky crossings, high speed limits, multiple lanes, steep descents, and loose surfaces, plus bonuses for lighting and traffic calming. The overall score averages the segments, minus a busy-road mileage penalty, adjusted for live weather and traffic.
What's a good score?
90+ is very safe, 75–89 safe, 60–74 moderately safe, 45–59 ride with caution, 30–44 risky, below 30 unsafe. See the full band descriptions above.
Where does the data come from?
OpenStreetMap infrastructure data — bike lane types, separation, speed limits, lane counts, surfaces, lighting, traffic calming — plus live weather and traffic conditions at analysis time.
Safety score vs. Safety Prediction — what's the difference?
Same number. Brakeaway calls it a Safety Prediction because that's what it honestly is: a structural estimate, not a guarantee. No score can promise an incident-free ride.
Is Brakeaway free?
Yes — scoring routes is free. Upload a GPX file or connect Strava and get your Safety Prediction in seconds.