City in Finland will pay up to €20 an hour for cycling

The city of Kajaani will use a crowdsourcing app to monitor the condition of its cycling routes and give monetary rewards to contributors.

​​In its newest initiative, the city of Kajaani has unveiled a crowdsourcing project that invites participants to examine and assess the city’s cycling routes by riding a bike and playing a game. The game is launching on July 1st.

Using the CrowdSorsa app, cyclists will hunt digital fruits and berries scattered on the city’s map while filming their ride. The videos submitted by participants will undergo inspection, where a computer vision model will be employed to analyze the footage and identify any surface cracks.

For each kilometer traveled along the city's expansive 68 km cycle network, participants could earn up to 3 euros.

The game reaches its end once the participants have successfully navigated the entire network, and the funds earned through the game are promptly transferred to the participants' respective bank accounts.

The CEO of CrowdSorsa, Toni Paju, says that “users can earn up to €20 an hour by participating in the mapping project.”

Kajaani is not the only city in Finland that uses crowdsourcing to assess the condition of its cycle lanes. Similar projects are also active in other cities, including Forssa, Joensuu, Kirkkonummi, Parainen, and Ylöjärvi.