Assessing the equity impact of cycling infrastructure allocation: Implications for planning practice

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Despite the general political efforts to normalise bicycle use in cities, empirical evidence indicates that cycling investments tend to prioritise central and wealthy neighbourhoods rather than economically disadvantaged and peripheral areas. Among the potential causes, scholars claim that the lack of awareness about the social impacts of cycling and the general absence of equity-oriented appraisal methods during planning and decision-making processes may perpetuate the uneven distribution of bicycle-related investments.In response, this paper introduces a novel planning support tool for assessing the relative equity impact of bicycle planning (TIRE), which provides a micro-scale spatial assessment of the effects of cycling network allocation on the accessibility levels of distinct socioeconomic groups, allowing a vertical equity assessment with high spatial detail.In order to apply the tool to a real-case scenario, the cycling strategy under implementation in Lisbon, Portugal, was assessed as a testbed. The results were presented to local planning practitioners in an experiential workshop, enabling participants to define strategies supported by the tool and evaluate its user-friendliness and usefulness for planning practice.TIRE revealed hotspots in the city where the cycling network distribution is equitable and areas where disadvantaged representatives have levels of accessibility below the municipality average, thus requiring special attention during the bicycle planning process. In addition, the tool supported local planning practitioners in identifying target areas and equity-oriented strategies, increasing awareness about the equity impacts of cycling infrastructure allocation.