47 - Evaluations of Bike and Walk Systems

Abstract

In recent years, use of walking and cycling as means of transportation have, at least in Europe, decreased. However, quite a big potential to change shorter vehicle trips to walking and cycling is theoretically present. It is, though, unclear how walking and cycling facilities are perceived. Are present facilities from users' point of view perceived as useful? If not, this might be one explanation of the relatively low use of present cycling and walking facilities. To enhance use of cycling and walking as means of transportation, knowledge of users perceived usability of these means might be crucial. This knowledge might be achieved by using a heuristic evaluation method. The aim of this study was to try to enhance the knowledge of users' evaluations of current bike and walk systems by applying a debugging method from the computer sciences on the evaluations. Are there differences in the evaluations between different types of cycling and walking areas? Are there differences in perceptions between those who plan/build the systems in question and those who use them? For the covering abstract see ITRD E113725.