A Case Study of American Bicycle Culture: How Cycling to Work Works in a Small Town in Kansas

Small communities, like big cities, are trying to figure out what to do about bicycling. Especially when used for transportation, bicycling offers benefits to individuals such as increased physical activity and decreased costs associated with motorized travel. For small and big cities, alike, bicycling produces zero carbon emissions, causes less wear and tear on already strained road systems, and promotes a tightening up of sprawling landscapes. So far, what we know about bicycling comes principally from statistical surveys and quantitative research of large sample studies conducted in cities with existing bicycle infrastructure. But what we need to know about bicycling goes beyond the numbers to explore how cyclists interact with their communities. Learning how cyclists make it work can help communities design environments and policies to encourage more bicycling. And not just in places with bicycle friendly amenities but also in places that might be called bicycle "unfriendly". This thesis reports on the results of a case study aimed at understanding how a small group of bicyclists make it work in a small military town in Kansas. The cyclists interviewed make it work by committing to biking to work, planning their lives around cycling, and overcoming obstacles. A major obstacle to bicycling is the sense that cyclists do not feel supported by the community. Feedback from this study can lead to a greater sensitivity to everyday dilemmas encountered by cyclists. Leaders and decision makers in places that do not actively encourage cycling can better understand how cyclists fit into their town's sense of community

Bicycle traffic and its interaction with motorized traffic in an agent-based transport simulation framework

Cycling as an inexpensive, healthy, and efficient mode of transport for everyday traveling is becoming increasingly popular. While many cities are promoting cycling, it is rarely included in transport models and systematic policy evaluation procedures. The purpose of this study is to extend the agent-based transport simulation framework MATSim to be able to model bicycle traffic more realistically. The network generation procedure is enriched to include attributes that are relevant for cyclists (e.g. road surfaces, slopes). Travel speed computations, plan scoring, and routing are enhanced to take into account these infrastructure attributes. The scoring, i.e. the evaluation of simulated daily travel plans, is furthermore enhanced to account for traffic events that emerge in the simulation (e.g. passings by cars), which have an additional impact on cyclists’ decisions. Inspired by an evolutionary computing perspective, a randomizing router was implemented to enable cyclists to find realistic routes. It is discussed in detail why this approach is both feasible in practical terms and also conceptually consistent with MATSim’s co-evolutionary simulation approach. It is shown that meaningful simulation results are obtained for an illustrative scenario, which indicates that the developed methods will make real-world scenarios more realistic in terms of the representation of bicycle traffic. Based on the exclusive reliance on open data, the approach is spatially transferable

E-scooter and bike-share route choice and detours : modelling the influence of built environment and sociodemographic factors

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MMicromobility is often presented as a sustainable, affordable, and active urban transport option, in comparison to motorised modes. Understanding users routing preferences could help policymakers adapt and design facilities that attract a myriad of micromobility users. Whereas previous research largely focused solely on the built infrastructure, the ways in which sociodemographic factors affect micromobility route choice and infrastructure preferences are unclear. This study examines how elements of the built environment and sociodemographic attributes influence the route selection of 115 e-scooter and bike-share users in Barcelona, Spain. We also compare participants' GPS-tracked trips to the shortest path that they could have followed and develop a multilevel model to estimate how urban and sociodemographic factors affect the decision to deviate from the shortest path. The findings show that micromobility users rarely choose the shortest path since urban elements related to safety, accessibility and aesthetics seem to shape their wayfinding decisions. Results help us comprehend cyclists' and e-scooter riders' distinct route preferences and further illustrate how the gender identity of micromobility users influences route choice and detour. The models indicate that, on average, women take shorter detours than men. We observe gender differences in the way cyclists and e-scooter riders favour certain elements in their trips, such as parked cars and cycling infrastructure. Our findings offer valuable insights into how sociodemographic factors interact with infrastructure and built environment conditions to influence micromobility users' route choice and open up the potential to use these results to manage micromobility flows within cities

The Evaluation of Cyclistic, a Bike Route Planning Tool for Tourists in Copenhagen

The Danish Cyclists Federation recently released a web-based, bike route-planning tool, Cyclistic, designed to facilitate cycling amongst tourists in Denmark. To test the software\u27s usability, we compared Cyclistic to other route-planners, interviewed 25 tourists about their biking needs, and conducted a usability study with 16 tourists. As a result, we identified major aspects of Cyclistic that could be modified and additional features that could improve the usability of the software

Gesture bike: examining projection surfaces and turn signal systems for urban cycling

Interactive surfaces could be employed in urban environments to make people more aware of moving vehicles, showing drivers’ intention and the subsequent position of vehicles. To explore the usage of projections while cycling, we created a system that displays a map for navigation and signals cyclist intention. The first experiment compared the task of map navigation on a display projected on a road surface in front of the bicycle with a head-up-display (HUD) consisting of a projection on a windshield. The HUD system was considered safer and easier to use. In our second experiment, we used projected surfaces to implement concepts inspired by Gibson’s perception theory of driving that were combined with detection of conventional cycling gestures to signal and visualize turning intention. The comparison of our system with an off-the-shelf turn signal system showed that gesture input was easier to use. A web-based follow-up study based on the recording of the two signalling systems from the perspective of participants in traffic showed that with the gesture-projector system it was easier to understand and predict the cyclist intention

Analyzing the behavior of cyclists at intersections to improve behavior variability within micro-simulation traffic models

The purpose of this thesis can be separated into two components: Component 1: The purpose of this component was to update the input parameters for cyclists for application in mixed-traffic micro simulation models. This component used GPS data from cyclists to develop distributions of desired speed under variable road and facility conditions. Desired speed distributions as a function of road grade and the effect that road surface and facility type have on desired speed were analyzed. The findings suggest that facility type (multi-use trail, bike lane, and no bike lane) had no significant effect on the desired speed of the cyclists in the study. A distribution of the desired speed of cyclists was developed and can be applied to improve variability within micro-simulation traffic models. Component 2: The purpose of this component was to observe and analyze the left turn behavior of cyclists at different types of signalized intersections in the City of Toronto with the intent of recommending what facilities are most effective at facilitating left turning movements under varying input conditions. From the observations, a database was created that includes turning behavior, approach conditions, and individual cyclist related variables for each cyclist. By analyzing the behavior data base, conclusions were made regarding the effect that intersection type, facility type, and input conditions have on the rule compliance and facility compliance of the cyclists that were observed. From these conclusions, recommendations have been made that are intended to suggest some facility interventions that will result in improved rule compliance and facility compliance, ultimately creating a more comfortable cycling environment and one that matches that natural tendencies of cyclists in the city. The measurement of rule compliance in this report is based on the simple observation of whether the cyclists, when making a left turn at the intersection, complied with the rules of the road or broke the rules of the road as defined by the Ontario Highway Traffic Act. The measurement of facility compliance is based on whether the cyclist made a left turn using the facility as the design intends them to use it. Cyclist behaviors at five different intersection configurations were observed in the study. This sample of intersection configurations is significant as they represent most of the generic intersection types that are located throughout Toronto’s cycling network. The distribution of these behaviors for each intersection type can be considered in micro-simulation models when considering the stochastic nature of a cyclists and their decision process with regards to navigating a left turn through an intersection. Facilities with more left turning options proved to promote rule compliance more so than the intersections with fewer options

Observational insights on relationships between bicycle infrastructure and cyclist demographics, safety gear and bike use in Stavanger.

Norway has ambitious plans to reduce private car use, both for the benefits of reduced emissions and to mitigate their space consuming impacts on roadways and in cities. In conjunction with these plans, a high target has been set for increased bicycle mode share across Norway’s major urban regions. In Stavanger this has translated into increased investment in the facilitation of cycling for transport, including the expansion and improvement of bicycle infrastructure. Although, what cyclists perceive as safe and attractive bicycle infrastructure can vary widely, based on factors such as experience level, age and gender. One example is, that a stronger preference towards infrastructure with a greater level of separation between motorized vehicles and cyclists, has been found in both women and older adult cyclists. Through observations of cyclists at twelve locations and three different infrastructure typologies in Stavanger, this thesis seeks to provide insight on the possible influence of bicycle infrastructure on the proportion of cyclists of different genders and age groups. The proportion of cyclists which use safety gear, sport clothing and e-bikes are also a focus of the analysis. These variables are of relevance, as research has highlighted that cities which have safer and more separated infrastructure, often also have more normalized cycling cultures and cyclists which less often use safety gear and sport clothing. While e-bike users often have different infrastructure preference and choice than that of conventional bike users. The infrastructure typologies which are compared, have been selected on the basis of the degree that they are separated from motorized vehicles. Although other infrastructural and environmental characteristics are also considered, including traffic volume, traffic speed, measure of centrality and density. The findings do not validate the assumptions made between the infrastructure characteristics of degree of separation and the variables considered. Although strong correlations are found between measures of traffic intensity and centrality at observation points and the proportion of women cyclists using the infrastructure. While other findings may point to a moderating effect of e-bikes on the proportion of women cyclists observed at more highly trafficked locations. Additionally, correlations between safety gear and sport clothing use and centrality are found which could be potentially related to two distinct types of cyclists found in Stavanger