Bikeway prioritization to increase bicycle network connectivity and bicycle-transit connection: A multi-criteria decision analysis approach

Abstract

Due to limited resources such as budget and land space, it remains challenging to identify key prior corridors on which investments on bikeways (e.g., traditional and protected bike lanes) are most valuable to increasing low-stress bike network connectivity and bicycle-transit connection. In built-up urban areas, it’s usually difficult to find the extra space for building bikeways, and vehicle delays could be worse off if there is no road widening. Facing these challenges, the paper introduces a systematic planning analytics aiming to increase bicycle connectivity and bicycle-transit connection with minimized impacts on motor vehicles and cost. The stakeholders concerned include bicyclists, transit users, motor vehicle drivers, and investors. To reduce conflict potentials due to multiple factors involved in decision making choices between stakeholders, a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique is applied to compare alternatives based on a set of performance evaluation criteria. Performance criteria include bicycling connectivity between origins and destinations, bike share connectivity to destinations, bicycle-transit service coverage population, bike share connectivity to transit, automobile traffic delay, and capital costs. Criteria weights are determined by pair-wise comparisons in which the conflicts between stakeholders and trade-offs among criteria are considered in a quantity-based method. A final preference score calculated in the sum of the weighted and normalized performance measurements is used to rank alternatives. The approach is applied through a case study in the Uptown Cincinnati, Ohio to determine the priorities of the proposed new bikeways in the area. The results indicate that the protected bike lanes exhibit a more significant advantage over bike lanes in terms of the benefits for bicyclists and transit users. At the same time, however, higher construction cost and countermeasures to reduce the potential of consequent traffic congestion need to be need carefully considered.