Bicycle Network Research Articles

Bicycle network performance: Assessing the directness of bicycle facilities through connectivity measures, a Montreal, Canada case study

Over the last two decades, cycling has seen a rise in popularity in North American cities, which are continuously expanding their bicycle networks. While studies highlight that a good utilitarian bicycle network should provide direct routes for cyclists to reach their desired destinations, most network assessments simply measure the length and growth of bicycle facilities. This study evaluates the performance of the bicycle network in Montreal, Canada using a set of complementary indicators accounting for the directness of bicycle facilities between observed origins and destinations of cyclists. The study first uses data on routes taken by cyclists from an online survey conducted in Montreal in 2009 to derive a perceived reduced cost of traveling on bicycle facilities. By applying the derived cost reduction coefficient to bicycle facilities (0.77), bicycle routes are then predicted for 1482 cycling trips from the 2013 Montreal Origin-Destination survey. For each predicted route, the proportion of route on bicycle facilities and the diversion from the shortest path are calculated to assess the directness allowed by bicycle facilities. These two indicators are then used to measure network connectivity. The findings reveal that only 33% of the routes are connected with a diversion lower than 12% and a route proportion on facilities higher than 50%. The results also highlight underperforming neighborhoods and demonstrate the importance of designing well-connected facilities between the boroughs. This study offers a proof of concept towards the development of a new methodology to measure bicycle network connectivity and support bicycle infrastructure planning.

Low-stress bicycling connectivity: Assessment of the network build-out in Edmonton, Canada

Studies have shown that a network of safe, connected, and direct facilities can increase urban cycling levels. During summer 2017, the city of Edmonton, Canada, constructed nearly 20 km of protected bicycle lanes on its core neighborhood streets. A rapid and coordinated network implementation was preferred to the more traditional incremental approach to bike lane construction. In this paper, we evaluate the low-stress connectivity improvements afforded by this network build-out. We first classify streets and trails according to the Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) framework, which we adapt to the metric system. Using only LTS 2 and LTS 1 network links, posited to be adequate for most adults, we apply three analyses. First, we draw “bikeshed” maps, which show areas of connectivity around seven central destinations. Our comparison before and after the build-out points to a better integration of the network, with previously separate bikesheds overlapping and allowing uninterrupted low-stress travel to more destinations. This analysis also allows us to identify several central neighborhoods which are disconnected due to remaining high-stress links. Second, we generate roughly three-hundred hypothetical origins located in the central neighborhoods of the city. Reflecting the improved bikeshed integration, we observe a four-fold increase in connected origin-destination pairs. Finally, we find small reductions in trip lengths between connected pairs for some of the trips that were possible before the build-out. However, important detours are still necessary to remain on an exclusively low-stress network when compared to the shortest path using the full network, regardless of LTS. The primary contribution of our research is to develop a method of analysis, based on straightforward tools, to study the city-wide impacts of targeted infrastructure improvements and is most relevant for cities in the initial stages of bicycle network development.

Implementing Low-Stress Bicycle Routing in National Accessibility Evaluation

The growth of bicycling and bicycle network facilities in the United States warrants assessment of whether bicycle networks give populations safe access to valuable destinations, that is, a bicycle network must be sufficiently both safe and useful. The Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress metric is adapted to assign traffic stress values to street segments and intersections based on OpenStreetMap data, and cumulative job opportunity accessibility calculations are performed on the reduced, low-stress bicycle networks. Four metropolitan areas were analyzed: Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN; Miami, FL; Seattle, WA; and Washington, D.C. An “access gap” metric was proposed, comparing low-stress accessibility with higher-stress accessibility, as a way to gauge how much a city’s bicycle network could be improved through upgrading its higher-stress bicycle facilities. Accessibility was aggregated over a variety of geographic areas, including Core-Based Statistical Areas, municipal boundaries, and neighborhoods, demonstrating the applicability of the proposed analysis framework to a wide variety of scenarios. It was found that, generally, restricting bicycle travel to only low-stress networks results in universal reductions in accessibility, which vary in magnitude between metropolitan areas, and between neighborhoods within a given metropolitan area. Practical applications of a traffic stress-informed bicycle accessibility analysis framework are discussed.

Exploring public bicycle network structure based on complex network theory and shortest path analysis: the public bicycle system in Yixing, China

ABSTRACTA well-functioning public bicycle system relates not only to its mode of operation, vehicle allocation, rental station layout and vehicle leasing configuration, but also the bicycle network structure and its formation. However, the latter aspects have been widely overlooked in China. Here, we help to further attract more researchers to conduct relevant studies and make suggestions for the development of public bicycle transport in many small and medium-sized cities across the world. We demonstrate how to explore the public bicycle network structure of a county-level Chinese city – Yixing – known for its clay ware and tourism. We show that complex network theory and shortest path analysis technology are useful in characterizing the public bicycle network structure, in aspects such as network topology, the spatial distribution of sub-networks and traffic flows. Finally, the paper proposes relevant urban planning strategies.

Primerjava omrežij državnih kolesarskih povezav v tujini in Sloveniji

Cycling has become one of the most sustainable forms of mobility in Europe and around the world, which does not pollute the environment, is economically undemanding and at the same time improves the quality of life of its inhabitants. Examples from abroad show an increasing use of the bicycle as the main means of transport, which is also reflected in changes in transport management policies at urban, regional and national level. A well thought-out and safe network of cycle paths in Northern European countries is already reflected in the higher proportion of cycling trips. This article presents different systems for managing bicycle networks in Europe and worldwide, from network design categorisation of bicycle connections to examples of implementation and frequency of use of individual routes. The paper presents documents of the national cycling network in Slovenia in recent years and the results of project CRP V2-1513 (B): Model of the integration of Slovenian bicycle network. Finally, the guidelines for the establishment of the national bicycle network in Slovenia are proposed, because only through good design of the bicycle network can we ensure its usefulness and attractiveness.

Design, Implementation and Testing of a New Mobile Multi-Function Sensing Device for Identifying High-Risk Areas for Bicyclists in Highly Congested Urban Streets

The number of bicycle riders in New York City has been increasing steadily in the past few years. These numbers include private and shared bicycles. NYC bicycle network has been expanded to accommodate this new volume. Although this new infrastructure has reduced the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured (KSI) in some areas, in other areas similar improvements were not observed. This inconsistency of how the number of bicycle crashes varies from one region to another in the city is the primary motivation of this paper. A highly portable and inexpensive sensing device for measuring the distance between a bicycle and lateral objects is designed from scratch and developed. The developed mobile sensing device can also map bicycle trajectories to highlight critical segments where the safe distance from passing vehicles is not respected. This device which is powered by a portable power source is comprised of two ultrasonic sensors namely, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and a real-time clock (RTC). The sensor is secured inside a custom design 3D printed case. The case can be easily attached to any bicycle including shared Citi Bike bicycles for testing. The final prototype is entirely functional and used to collect sample data to demonstrate its effectiveness to address safety-related problems mentioned above. Finally, a dashboard is created to display collected key information. This key information can be used by researches and agencies for a better understanding of the factors contributing to the safety of bicycle routes.

Wprowadzenie roweru publicznego jako element rozwoju transportu w gminie Kórnik = Introduction of bike-sharing as part of transport development in the commune of Kórnik

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the average number of vehicles per capita, contributing to a rising number of communication conflicts. The solution to such problems in small rural and urban-rural communes would the introduction of alternative transport, which is relatively cheaper and simpler to implement compared to the modernization of road infrastructure. The article examines whether the introduction of a communal bicycle system in Kórnik would avoid some of the transport conflicts and facilitate mobility within the commune. One of the research objectives was an attempt to model the 4th generation of municipal bicycle zones employing the GIS tools for the Kórnik territorial unit. Based on a survey conducted directly on a group of 125 people in May 2018, it was noticed that developing this type of tourist offer would be attractive to residents as providing an alternative form of locomotion to public transport. It was proposed to introduce a bicycle network based on a system of 4th generation without base stations, involving GPS locators and a mobile application. The article also presents the financial aspect- at what costs are residents prepared to make use of this type of solution, attractive not only for tourists, but also as an alternative to intra-municipal bus communication.

The Keys to Connectivity: The District of Columbia’s Innovative Approach to Unlocking Low-Stress Bicycle Networks

Washington, D.C. (the District) has led the way in the adoption of state-of-the-art bicycle facilities and the innovative application of bicycle level of traffic stress (LTS) mapping for the District. Although the District’s LTS network map provides insight into bicycle network accessibility at the street level, the District needs a data-driven mechanism for identifying and prioritizing future investments to improve cycling at the system level. As part of its ongoing District Mobility Project, District Department of Transportation (DDOT) applied a geographic information system (GIS)-based network analysis to its bicycle LTS map to quantify network connectivity on low-stress District streets. This analysis was used to develop a bicycle network accessibility rating for District neighborhoods. The results revealed that though DDOT has invested in a range of innovative projects to improve accessibility in the District, only 27% of the overall network has been connected. By taking the analysis a step further and identifying the bottom 10% of accessible census blocks, DDOT both confirmed existing perceptions about the presence of disconnected low-stress “islands” in the District, and identified key gaps in the overall bicycle network. Using this information, DDOT is able to prioritize future bicycle infrastructure investments, while possessing a data-driven mechanism for assessing and communicating the accessibility benefits offered by individual investments. In addition, the methodology for developing the network accessibility rating provides a proof-of-concept for other jurisdictions looking to maximize the utility of their own LTS network maps.

Bicycling Network Development for Tourism and Travel in Wiang Phayao, Thailand

This study aims to analyse and present the Bicycling Network for Tourism and Traveling in Wiang Phayao. The researcher first studied the potential of road transportation network to develop a bicycle network for tourism in Wiang Phayao by analyzing the provincial transportation plan, transit map and popular route of traveler in Wiang Phayao. The researcher also studied criteria of bicycle route design by using the Multi Criteria Analysis: MCA which can be presented 2 optional bicycle networks. From the analysis of optional bicycle network for tourism and traveling by using computer program technique called “Space Syntax” found the second option is more suitable to develop the bicycle route than the first option because of the high tendency of travelling and travelers who are not local people will understand the characteristic of routes more than first option.

An adaption of the level of traffic stress based on evidence from the literature and widely available data

Bicyclist quality of service measures are often difficult to apply on the network rather than facility level. Analyzing bicycle infrastructure on the network level is a critical process for managing bicycle infrastructure planning, design, and construction. The Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) measure fills this need for a network level measure. However, the originally proposed LTS measure leaves some gaps related to the designation of facilities and requires data that may be difficult to collect on a network level. The adapted LTS measure proposed here is based on traffic, roadway, and bikeway characteristics data available to most planning and engineering agencies and on evidence from the literature. The adapted LTS was used to classify and analyze bike network connectivity in two case studies to assess the methodology and demonstrate practical applications in infrastructure management. The first was a six-mile buffer zone of the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, and the second was a three-mile transit access zone around three transit stations in southwest Atlanta. The analysis was done in ArcGIS and provides results that can be easily interpreted by the public and decision makers, while relying on quantifiable traffic and roadway characteristics.

Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment of Bicycle and Trail Networks

AbstractTransportation infrastructure continues to be at risk to climate change impacts including sea-level rise (SLR) inundation. Past studies have primarily focused on motorized facilities; howev...

Quantifying Bicycle Network Connectivity in Lisbon Using Open Data

Stimulating non-motorized transport has been a key point on sustainable mobility agendas for cities around the world. Lisbon is no exception, as it invests in the implementation of new bike infrastructure. Quantifying the connectivity of such a bicycle network can help evaluate its current state and highlight specific challenges that should be addressed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop an exploratory score that allows a quantification of the bicycle network connectivity in Lisbon based on open data. For each part of the city, a score was computed based on how many common destinations (e.g., schools, universities, supermarkets, hospitals) were located within an acceptable biking distance when using only bicycle lanes and roads with low traffic stress for cyclists. Taking a weighted average of these scores resulted in an overall score for the city of Lisbon of only 8.6 out of 100 points. This shows, at a glance, that the city still has a long way to go before achieving their objectives regarding bicycle use in the city.

УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ ЛАНДШАФТНО- РЕКРЕАЦІЙНОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА МІСТ ТА ПОЗАМІСЬКИХ ТЕРИТОРІЙ ШЛЯХОМ ВПРОВАДЖЕННЯ ВЕЛОСИПЕДНОЇ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ


 
 
 The classification of urban and suburban landscapes and recreation objects is given, and the expediency of using cycling transport as an independent within the territory of green plantations and transit in the general system of the city bicycle network is analyzed. Estimates of the number of parking lots for bicycles in city parks of different sizes are given. The results of the study are illustrated by the introduction of a project for the reconstruction of the park of culture and recreation them. M. Rylsky in Kyiv, Ukraine. Quantitative and qualitative indicators of improving the landscape and recreational environment of cities and outlying areas are identified by introducing bicycle infrastructure: normative data, radii of accessibility to destinations and services, the possibility of changing the type of operation and mode of operation from the capacity and conditions of the inhabitants' activity depending on the season and season load on city objects; the efficiency of communications in remote networks, functional optimality, convenience of communication, strengthening of the connection of the city with natural resources.
 
 

Should traffic-related air pollution and noise be considered when designing urban bicycle networks?

This study was motivated by an interest in capturing the factors affecting the exposure of cyclists to ambient Ultrafine Particles (UFP), Black Carbon (BC), and noise (LAeq) across the entire bicycle network of the City of Toronto. Measurements were conducted along 270 km of unique roads, and we developed land use regression models and exposure surfaces. Median UFP, BC and noise levels recorded were 19,848 part/cm3, 1224 ng/m3, and 72.9 dB respectively. The average UFP and BC exposures along the biking routes (18,900 part/cm3 and 1130 ng/m3) were higher than the average levels measured at a fixed station located in downtown Toronto (13,300 part/cm3 and 809 ng/m3). The highest UFP and BC levels were experienced on dedicated bicycle tracks (30,000 part/cm3 and 1600 ng/m3 as median concentrations), while the highest noise levels occurred on major roads (median of 74 dB). In contrast, median levels on trails were 13,200 part/cm3, 535 ng/m3 and 70.2 dB, for UFP, BC, and noise. The exposure surfaces developed for the air pollutants and noise were intersected with the planned extensions to the bicycle network in the City of Toronto to evaluate the distributions of exposures expected across the future cycling network. We observe that the mean and median UFP, BC, and noise levels across planned facilities are equal to or significantly higher than the levels across the current network.

Modelling route choice of Dutch cyclists using smartphone data

This paper analyzes the GPS traces recorded by cyclists in the framework of the Mobile Mobility Panel throughout the Netherlands. The objective of this paper is to analyze bicycle route choice via network attributes and trip length over a sequence of trips by approximately 280 bicycle users, who were asked to register their trips by means of a specific smartphone application. Approximately 3,500 bike trips were recorded throughout the Netherlands over a four-week period in 2014. The bike trips have been matched to a specific bicycle network built and updated by a Dutch cyclists’ union. Route choice models were estimated, using both the binomial logit model and the mixed multinomial logit model with Path-size logit model formulation. The chosen alternatives were part of the choice set for the mixed multinomial logit model. Also, the shortest route was generated for each origin-destination pair. 
 
 The results show that trip lengths and trip distribution over time reveal a population sample much used to cycling, frequently and over long distances. Furthermore, when considering the composition of chosen routes in terms of link type, the usage of cycleway links is frequent. For repeated trips, the shortest route option tends to be chosen more; frequent cyclists, on systematic trips, tend to optimize their trip and prefer the shortest routes. This is even truer for males and for non-leisure trips. The estimated probabilities for both multinomial and binomial models show that the binomial model tends to overestimate the probabilities of choosing the shortest route. This result is stronger in non-leisure trips, where people tend to choose a more personalized route, instead of the shortest. This research contributes to the generation of a more efficient distribution of bicycle trips over the network. Future research can more specifically address the intrapersonal variation in route—destination choice given the availability of longitudinal data.

A Historical Perspective on the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities and the Impact of the Vehicular Cycling Movement

This paper draws from a literature review and interviews to demonstrate the impact of advocacy, research, and culture on guidance for design users, bike lanes, and separated (protected) bike lanes in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ bicycle guides’ content from 1974 to present. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a bicycle renaissance in America resulted in efforts at the local, state, and federal level to encourage bicycling. After Davis, California, became the first community in the United States to build a network of bike lanes, a new brand of bicycle advocacy, vehicular cycling (VC), formed to oppose efforts to separate bicyclists from motorized traffic based on fears of losing the right to use public roads. Via positions of power and strong rhetoric, vehicular cyclists influenced design guidance for decades to come. Through the 1980s, VC philosophy aligned with a federal view that bicyclists freeloaded from the gas tax, resulting in diminished federal support for guidance and related research throughout the decade. However, the passing of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 led to increased bicycle networks and renewed interest in bicycle facility research. Although vehicular cyclists continue to oppose roadway designs that separate bicyclists from motorized traffic, research from the last decade demonstrates networks of separated bike lanes improve bicyclist safety and are necessary to meet the needs of the vast majority of the public who want to bicycle but feel unsafe in many traffic contexts.

Network design, built and natural environments, and bicycle commuting: Evidence from British cities and towns

Rates of cycling to work vary significantly from one urban area to another but the reasons for these variations are not well understood. Existing literature highlights the importance of built environments, urban amenities, and high-quality bicycle networks in promoting cycling. However, few studies measure the respective contributions and weigh the collective magnitude of effects of these influences together. We present a multivariate model that reflects the influences of such factors for 36 cities and towns in Britain. The models reveal a complex web of forces shaping cycling to work, confirming that there is no single, silver-bullet factor even in cities with remarkably high commuter cycling. The model results highlight the importance in joining up network level interventions, for instance to reduce both route circuity and on-road stress, which are objectives often being pursued separately. The results also highlight the importance of non-transport aspects such as land use mix and landscape amenities along commuter routes, and the role of city-specific cycling culture. They also underscore the need for closer collaboration between promoters of commuter cycling and wider urban disciplines to create low-stress routes and supportive built environments in cities and their outskirts.

A novel partition model of scheduling regions for public bicycle system

Scheduling optimization, especially public bicycle scheduling analysis, has become a hot topic due to its benefits in social, economic and environmental aspects. The traditional methods mainly focus on the distance among bicycle stations to realize a self-balancing bicycle supply by minimizing the scheduling workload for each region but ignore the origin/destination flow-data and topological features of bicycle station networks. This paper proposes a novel partition model for public bicycle scheduling region. Besides the distance, the proposed model combines dynamic origin/destination flows of bicycle stations with the topological features of them in bicycle networks to construct a similarity matrix. Then scheduling region partition is obtained by using the affinity propagation clustering algorithm. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model, we compare it with the other baseline methods by calculating the correlation coefficient between the regions while the coupling coefficient functions on the real data from Hangzhou public bicycle system. The experimental result shows that the proposed model can achieve the smallest scheduling workload among the scheduling regions.

Spatial variability of on-bicycle black carbon concentrations in the megacity of São Paulo: A pilot study

In 2015, a controversial bicycle lane was installed on Paulista Avenue –a thoroughfare in the heart of the megacity of São Paulo with a high rate of motorised vehicles. For the first time, on-bicycle air pollution concentrations were assessed along this lane using black carbon (BC) as an indicator of fossil fuel combustion. We measured BC concentrations with a hand-held microaethalometer at a high temporal resolution, enabling the capture of fine spatial gradients along the route. Although this new link expanded the city's cycling network, our pioneering study showed that BC concentrations were large (mean 8.5 μg m−3) with extreme values reaching 24.0 μg m−3, comparable to concentrations found in many megacities. In agreement with other studies, we observed that concentrations decreased about 1.6 times on a section of the bicycle lane running through a calmer neighbourhood, which could indicate the potential to safeguard the health of cyclists by installing lanes with greater separation from main roads, such as Paulista Avenue. This pilot work paves the way to more detailed studies aiming to map out the spatial distribution of other traffic-related pollutants across the city's 458-km long bicycle network.

Designing bike networks using the concept of network clusters

In this paper, a novel method is proposed for designing a bike network in urban areas. Based on the number of taxi trips within an urban area, a weighted network is abstracted. In this network, nodes are the origins and destinations of taxi trips and the number of trips among them is abstracted as link weights. Data is extracted from the Taxi smart card system of a real city. Then, Communities i.e. clusters of this network are detected using a modularity maximization method. Each community contains the nodes with highest number of trips within the cluster and lowest number of trips with other clusters. Within each community, the nodes close enough to each other for being traveled by bicycle are detected as key points and some non-dominated bike network connecting these nodes are enumerated using a bi-objective optimization model. The total travel cost (distance or time) on the network and the path length are considered as objectives. The method is applied to Isfahan city in Iran and a total of seven regions with some non-dominated bike networks are proposed.