Effects of crowding on route preferences and perceived safety of urban cyclists in the Netherlands

Bicycle use increases in many cities around the world. In the Netherlands, cycling is one of the main transport modes in cities and bicycle use is still growing. This leads to crowded cycling infrastructure in cities with high cycling shares, including in the four largest Dutch cities. Since few studies have been done to the effects of high crowding levels on cyclists’ route preferences and perceived safety, the present study aims to examine this for Dutch urban cyclists. Moreover, the relationship between perceived safety and route preferences is established. To investigate this, a questionnaire, including a route choice experiment, is completed by 1,329 cyclists from the four largest Dutch cities. The effects of varying crowding levels on route preferences and perceived safety are analysed with Mixed Logit models. Logistic regression is used to investigate the consistency between route preferences and perceived safety. The results show that crowding negatively affects route preferences as well as perceived safety, and that the impact is stronger for older cyclists and women. Furthermore, high crowding levels have a negative impact on the preference for and perception of safety of cycling infrastructure. Moreover, it is shown that all investigated route attributes have a significant effect on perceived safety, implying a more direct relationship between perceived safety and route preferences. In addition, the results show that most cyclists prefer routes they also perceive as safe. Concludingly, crowding seems an important issue for cyclists in large Dutch cities. Moreover, the perception of safety is likely to increase with the implementation of cycling infrastructure suitable for large flows of cyclists, leading to a safer cycling network for all types of cyclists

Safe cycling routes:Road safety indicators for cycling routes

To ensure that the cycling network remains safe after an increase in cycling, a well-developed, safe cycling network is needed. Studies investigating safe cycling often focus on design choices at road level, whereas route and network levels are also relevant. This study deals with cycling safety at route level. Firstly, it aims to define indicators to compare the safety levels of different routes between each origin-destination (OD) pair. Secondly, it aims to discuss how these indicators can be applied by road authorities in order to assess and improve the safety of cycling routes. Finally, it also aims to discuss the function of different types of infrastructure in the cycling network, as elements in cycling routes. The study focuses on cyclist routes within urban areas (built-up areas)

How do municipalities substantiate their effectiveness estimations?:An exploratory study of knowledge about road safety measures

Gemeenteambtenaren schatten de effectiviteit van verkeersveiligheidsmaatregelen vaak niet correct in: te positief voor de overwegend beperkte effectiviteit van verkeerslessen en voorlichtingscampagnes (zonder aanvullende handhaving) en te negatief voor de hoge effectiviteit van rotondes. Waarop baseren gemeenteambtenaren deze inschatting? Voor de effectiviteit van rotondes baseren ze hun inschatting vooral op kennis uit opleiding en publicaties. Voor verkeerslessen en voorlichtingscampagnes baseren ze zich vooral op hun eigen ervaring als verkeersdeelnemer of ouder, op praktijkervaring en op gewoonten. Kennis over effectiviteit van educatie en voorlichting uit factsheets vinden gemeenteambtenaren redelijk duidelijk; deze informatie wordt over het algemeen vertrouwd, maar blijkt wel vaak nieuw voor ze. Ook denken ze soms dat verkeerslessen wel effectief moeten zijn, omdat ze gefinancierd worden door provincie of Rijk. Meer aandacht voor effectiviteit in de opleiding en meer tijd om zich bezig te houden met verkeersveiligheid kunnen wellicht helpen de kennis hierover te verbeteren. Ook kunnen misverstanden worden voorkomen als enkel bewezen effectieve maatregelen zouden worden gesubsidieerd. Meer onderzoek naar de effectiviteit van educatie en voorlichting zou meer kennis hierover kunnen opleveren, evenals bewezen effectieve Nederlandse voorbeelden waarvan gemeenten kunnen leren

How does hourly variation in exposure to cyclists and motorised vehicles affect cyclist safety? A case study from a Dutch cycling capital

Cycling is promoted as a sustainable and healthy mode of transport, which results in an increase in bicycle use in urban areas. Increasing bicycle use comes with growing concerns about cyclist safety. This study examines how the temporal variation in the network-wide exposure to cyclists and motorised vehicles affects bicycle crash frequency. Network-wide hourly volumes of cyclists and motorised vehicles were estimated and regression models were used to identify the effect of the exposure to traffic on bicycle crashes in the city of Utrecht, a Dutch cycling capital. The results show that increasing exposure to motorised vehicles, and to a lesser extent, exposure to cyclists, increases the number of bicycle crashes on 50 km/h roads. For 30 km/h roads, no statistically significant relationship between the exposure to cyclists and bicycle crashes was found. Moreover, it was shown that cyclist crash numbers on 30 km/h roads are less sensitive to an increase in the exposure to motorised vehicles compared to cyclist crash numbers on 50 km/h roads. Furthermore, the exposure to motorised vehicles is a stronger factor affecting the increase in bicycle crashes on roads with bicycle lanes or mixed traffic conditions than on roads with separated bicycle facilities. To conclude, this study shows that road safety for cyclists needs further improvements, as cycling in cities keeps increasing

How does hourly variation in exposure to cyclists and motorised vehicles affect cyclist safety? A case study from a Dutch cycling capital

Cycling is promoted as a sustainable and healthy mode of transport, which results in an increase in bicycle use in urban areas. Increasing bicycle use comes with growing concerns about cyclist safety. This study examines how the temporal variation in the network-wide exposure to cyclists and motorised vehicles affects bicycle crash frequency. Network-wide hourly volumes of cyclists and motorised vehicles were estimated and regression models were used to identify the effect of the exposure to traffic on bicycle crashes in the city of Utrecht, a Dutch cycling capital. The results show that increasing exposure to motorised vehicles, and to a lesser extent, exposure to cyclists, increases the number of bicycle crashes on 50 km/h roads. For 30 km/h roads, no statistically significant relationship between the exposure to cyclists and bicycle crashes was found. Moreover, it was shown that cyclist crash numbers on 30 km/h roads are less sensitive to an increase in the exposure to motorised vehicles compared to cyclist crash numbers on 50 km/h roads. Furthermore, the exposure to motorised vehicles is a stronger factor affecting the increase in bicycle crashes on roads with bicycle lanes or mixed traffic conditions than on roads with separated bicycle facilities. To conclude, this study shows that road safety for cyclists needs further improvements, as cycling in cities keeps increasing