Steve the Pigeon Helps Explain Moscow Bike Infrastructure
While studying at HSE University, students not only gain a strong theoretical foundation but also engage in rich project-based work. Many launch start-ups that later grow into major businesses or conduct significant research. For instance, students from the Contemporary Journalism Master’s programme developed a project on Moscow’s cycling infrastructure.
Valeria Kataeva, Elizaveta Kulikova, and Daniil Polyakov, second-year students on the Data Journalism track, created a comic based on real statistical data provided by the Moscow Traffic Control Centre (MTCC). They combined journalism, data visualisation, and comic art to clearly and accessibly inform city residents about the current potential of cycling as a mode of transport.
You can view the comic here.
‘When the students first told me about their idea to create a data comic about Moscow’s transport, I was rather sceptical. As someone who works in this field, I found it hard to imagine a truly new angle for covering transport infrastructure,’ said Maria Kazakova, academic supervisor of the project and visiting lecturer at the HSE Institute of Media and Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urbanism.
Maria Kazakova
Maria Kazakova was concerned the project might turn out dull and bureaucratic, but the students were confident in its success. ‘When they showed me the first draft, I could not stop smiling. It was so fresh, funny, interesting, bright, and engaging—I had not seen such a bold and innovative approach to data in a long time. The final result exceeded all expectations. According to surveys, the data comic featuring Steve the Pigeon appeals to people of all ages and professions,’ the academic supervisor shared. She noted that this was the first time a data comic had been created as a graduation project on the Data Journalism track.
The students spoke to the HSE News Service about the comic’s concept, the creative process, and their plans for further development.
Valeria Kataeva
At the beginning, we had three ideas: ecology, cybersecurity, and transport. In the end, we chose the third one because public transport is something everyone uses. We immediately decided to focus on Moscow—the city where we live, study, and work. We want to talk about what is close to us and our audience—such stories resonate more than abstract or distant topics.
We were also deliberate in choosing the format. One of our lecturers told us: ‘Pick a topic you will not get bored with after two months.’ That is what we aimed for. Data comics are just starting to emerge in Russia, and it was important for us to contribute to this field, explore its potential, and show how visual storytelling can be used to communicate complex urban processes.
Once we settled on the topic of urban infrastructure, partnering with the Moscow Traffic Control Centre was a natural step—they are one of the key providers of transport data in Moscow. Thanks to MTCC, we also connected with Velobike, which helped us paint a more complete picture. This is especially important for a transport project: relying solely on open sources makes it difficult to obtain timely and reliable data.
Elizaveta Kulikova
The target audience for our project is Moscow residents aged 18 to 45 who use bicycles or are interested in urban planning, public transport, and modern technology.
The comic format may also appeal to journalists, designers, and analysts. We created it to make information about the development of cycling infrastructure and major transport initiatives more accessible and to improve the audience’s data literacy.
In the project, Valeria was responsible for working with data—collecting, processing, and analysing it—and also oversaw the team’s workflow. I worked on the composition and storyline, developed the character and wrote their lines. Daniil handled everything related to the visual aspect: he created the comic’s layout, illustrated the panels, and selected the colours and style. Our roles both overlapped and were clearly defined. We often helped one another, gave feedback, and offered an outside perspective.
Daniil Polyakov
Data comics are a genre where artistic techniques are combined with elements of data visualisation. The data is seamlessly integrated into the narrative to help explain complex ideas to a wider audience.
Today, there is often a gap between the development of urban infrastructure and how it is perceived by residents—important transport projects go unnoticed. Meanwhile, Moscow’s cycling infrastructure is actively evolving: over the past five years, the total length of cycle paths has increased by 63%, the 'Green Ring' route was launched, and the number of cycling trips has gone up. But these changes get lost in dry reports.
To make the information more accessible and engaging, we created a comic based on real data. The biggest challenge was the scope of the project: we needed to craft a compelling story and visuals while also presenting the data accurately. None of us are professional artists, so we used neural networks to create the first illustrations. After that, we refined everything manually—drawing the main character, unifying the visual style, and editing the artwork.
The team has big plans ahead. The students aim to expand the project and create an entire series of data comics about urban transport. The focus will be on topics that are familiar but not always fully understood by the public—things like traffic light synchronisation, video monitoring of violations, and how patrol services operate.
Each edition will feature Steve the Pigeon as an observer, narrator, and attentive city dweller. He asks questions, expresses surprise, makes jokes, and brings the story to life in a human, relatable way.
The project’s creators believe that data comics have great potential in both education and media. And if they manage not only to convey information but also to make someone smile, then everything has worked out just as they hoped.