EVER had the feeling you are being watched?

If transport bosses at Scotland's largest local authority achieve their aim, every cyclist in Glasgow could soon be monitored - but anonymously, and only if they volunteer the information.

Technology experts at Glasgow City Council are urging as many cyclists as possible to download a first-of-its-kind app which will enable planners to track the movements of bicycle users and compile data on where cycling infrastructure is most needed or crying out for improvements.

The free app will record the route taken by the rider, when they travelled, how long the journey took and any other information the cyclist wants to add - such as rating the ease of the route or any trouble spots.

Once shared, the data will be collated on a central database to generate the most accurate picture to date on how, where and when people are cycling in Glasgow. This can then be used as a tool to help design the city's cycle infrastructure.

So less Orwellian surveillance society and more the first step to creating a cyclists' utopia: cycle paths where they are most needed, bicycle hire and parking facilities to meet to demand, and more cycle lanes on the most popular roads.

The app is the latest innovation to emerge from the council's £24 million Future City Glasgow project, an initiative demonstrating how technology could make life in cities smarter, safer and more sustainable.

Mark Irwin, part of the Future City team who designed the app, said: "The main benefit of this is in asking cyclists to help us map how they move around the city. They can tell us where they go, they can rate the routes, so as we go forward we will develop a much clearer picture of how people cycle in Glasgow.

"It's using crowdsourcing, essentially. It will generate the data that we simply don't have at the moment and rather than bring in a consultant, it made sense to get the cyclists to do it for us.

"The information will be anonymous but it's open too. So if you're in academia and you want to research cycling patterns in the city, you can access all the information we gather on the Future City website."

While other apps are already on the market which allow cyclists to record and share their routes, Glasgow is the first city in the UK to develop one specifically to guide decision-making on planning and infrastructure.

Current information on cycling is limited, despite the city council's ambition to make Glasgow a "cycling city" by 2020.

Although there is an electronic counter on the Anderston footbridge and a manual cordon count takes place every year, it provides only a snapshot of the city's bicycle traffic and no information about how cyclists are using existing infrastructure or what they think of it.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, city council leader and chairman of Future City Glasgow, said: "The number of cyclists coming into the city has increased drastically but Glasgow City Council is keen to encourage even more people to cycle both for leisure and commuting.

"This new app will provide accurate information which will be extremely helpful when decisions are being made on where and how to upgrade or extend cycling facilities. I hope bikers will seize this chance to contribute directly to make Glasgow more bike friendly."

Current figures show that the number of cycle journeys into and from Glasgow city centre has increased from 3,012 to 9,255 per day - a rise of 207 per cent since 2007. This equates to 1,851,000 cycle journeys taken annually into and from the city centre. The city's new bike hire scheme has had 34,128 rentals.

Keith Irving, chief executive Cycling Scotland, urged other cities to follow Glasgow's lead.

He said: "All councils should be increasing monitoring of cycling levels. This initiative by Future City Glasgow combines technology with data to develop information about cycling conditions. We hope it will be successful and could feature in a future Cycling Scotland conference as best practice to be copied across the country."

The app also incorporates an interactive Future City Glasgow map showing the locations of facilities such as cycle parking and bike shops, with cyclists encouraged to contribute their own local knowledge. The app is available now for Apple devices with an android version due to go on sale from Google Play over the next couple of weeks.

Victoria Leiper of Glasgow Bike Station said: "This is our opportunity, as cycle commuters to shape decision-making. It is perhaps the most pro-active thing we can do and I plan to use the app every day to submit my own journeys."