Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of different roadway surfaces’ roughness on cyclists’ velocity choices. Could surface roughness be efficiently used for designing velocity choices according to needs in different locations? First, a survey to identify environmental conditions’ impact on cyclist velocity choices is employed. The main part analyses the speeds of 3750 cyclists, measured with a radar gun on seven different surfaces: smooth and rough asphalt, painted cycle lanes, concrete, large and small cobblestones and gravel. By utilising a smartphone's built-in accelerometer affixed to a bicycle, the three-dimensional acceleration-based roughness of the surfaces is measured over a fixed distance. The analysis of scatter plots reveals that the vertical acceleration component approximates the total acceleration best. Ultimately, a numerical integration approach is used to derive comparable vertical distance values per surface type and fork stiffness. The collected data show that the 50th and 85th percentiles of cyclist speeds are similar on all surface types: 19·4–20·7 and 23–25·5 km/h. Furthermore, the data show only a weak correlation between measured velocity and surface roughness, thus suggesting that other, unconsidered factors outweigh the influence of the road surface and point the way to future research needs.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal Engineer
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.