Operational Evaluation of Advisory Bike Lane Treatment on Road User Behavior in Ottawa, Canada

Abstract

The City of Ottawa has been investigating design solutions to facilitate the addition of cycling facilities, while maintaining parking, to roadways with limited right-of-ways. A pilot project to install advisory bike lanes was initiated. The purpose of this study is to determine how new pavement markings (advisory bike lanes) influence cyclist and motorist interactions and positioning, especially with respect to the distance between motorists and cyclists when passing. The study presents a before–after evaluation of two contrasting pavement indications. Video data were collected in two phases (pre- and post- treatment); each phase consisted of two different days. A number of safety performance parameters were used to assess whether safer conditions existed after the new treatment was installed: (i) the lateral distance between the motor vehicle and cyclist, (ii) the lateral distance between the cyclist and curbside edge/cyclist and buffer edge line, and (iii) the speed of the cyclist and motor vehicle. The findings indicate that the advisory bike lanes created more favorable conditions for cyclist safety and for motor vehicle compliance. These findings are (i) motorists passed cyclists with a greater lateral separation distance, (ii) cyclists positioned themselves further from parking edge line and rode in the middle of the bike lane, (iii) motor vehicle traveling speed decreased (the 85th percentile speed decreased by 5.2% after the installation of the advisory bike lane), and (iv) average cyclist speed increased (the average cyclist speed increased by 7.7% after the installation of the advisory bike lane).