Scottish Government has been committed for many years to encouraging cycling as main
private means of transport, in 2008 1% of all Scottish travel were made by bicycle, the vision
is to increase this rate to 10% by 2020. In 2012, 2% of travels between 3 and 5 km in
Scotland were made by bicycle, the goal is actually far but in the meantime we are noticing
that cycling has become more and more popular in daily commute, especially in urban
environments where its rapid growth has usually been associated with safety problems. In
Scotland and UK between 2011 and 2012 the number of people injured in accidents involving
bicycles has raised. Reducing casualties is therefore a primary objective sought by public
institutions at any levels. I will explore innovative visualisation techniques and I will
elaborate a safe route planner able avoid critical areas where cycling accidents tend to cluster.
Bicycles collisions data from 2005-2012 are provided by Department for Transport. A safe
route choice model will make use of information derived from this dataset to optimise a least
cost path algorithm for the route planner. Effectiveness of the route planner will be tested to
assess the risk reduction and to evaluate how conceived risk communication techniques
succeed at generating awareness in experienced and non-experienced cyclists. The first test
will actually highlight the success of the model while users will responses will vary according
to their cycling experience. The research will fill gaps regarding cyclist aimed web-GIS
services and at the same time will point out how the communication and perception of risk
might be taken into account for further research
