Design speeds and acceleration characteristics of bicycle traffic for use in planning,design and appraisal

This paper reports the results of a study of a cohort of cyclists to determine their speed and acceleration characteristics relative to gradient and other influencing factors in order to supply data for planners, designers and appraisers of cycle infrastructure schemes. A cohort of everyday cyclists was supplied with a global positioning system device and a heart rate monitor and asked to collect data from their journeys in Leeds, UK.The analysis determines the cyclists’ speeds and accelerations at every point on their journey and elevation data, corroborated by mapping information, was used to determine the gradient. Two linear regression models of speed and acceleration were estimated and show that the influence of a downhill gradient on speed is less pronounced than the effect of an uphill gradient. The results indicate an eighty-fifth percentile speed on the flat of 22 kph, and for a downhill gradient of 3%, 25 kph. The power required to cycle has been estimated and shows that cyclists deliver around 150 W on the flat, but that this rises to around 250 W climbing hills. Mean acceleration on the flat is 0.231 m/s² and the average power output over the acceleration phase, which is of mean duration 26 s, is approximately 120 W. Air resistance accounts for approximately 70% of the resistive force when cycling at design speed.It is recommended that designers adopt 25 kph as a design speed for gradients less than 3%, but that consideration should be given to design speeds of up to 35 kph for steeper gradients. Free-flow speeds in this range should be used when modelling mode and route choices and in benefit appraisal.     

From bicycle sharing system movements to users: a typology of Vélo’v cyclists in Lyon based on large-scale behavioural dataset

Vélo’v have been available in Lyon, France, since 2005, and are one of the first major public bicycle sharing systems (BSS) implemented in Europe. With up to 7 million trips in 2013 and around 50,000 annual users plus occasional users, Vélo’v have increased bicycle use in the city by 50%. Analysing a database gathering both bicycle movement and user data for the calendar year 2011 provided by the operator, we concentrate our analysis on Vélo’v users. We characterise user mobilities and produce a user typology based on cluster analysis, relying on intensity and on annual and weekly temporal patterns. The proposed analysis, which creates user profiles from patterns, contributes to a close-reading of the interplay between BSS and other transports as well as to an improved understanding of conditions leading to a wider use of bicycles in cities.     

Mapping bicycle use and the risk of accidents for commuters who cycle to work in Belgium

This paper explores the spatial patterns of bicycle use for commuting and the risk cyclists run being injured in a road accident when commuting to work in Belgium. Exploratory data analyses suggest that the observed differences in the use of the bicycle to get to work are strongly linked to the urban hierarchy: commuters are more inclined to cycle in cities and specifically in regional towns (with 25 000 to 120 000 inhabitants). In large cities (more than 200 000 inhabitants), less commuting by bicycle takes place. The relationship between bicycle use and the risk of being seriously injured or killed in a road accident is also studied. A cluster analysis confirms that high proportions of commuter cyclists are correlated with low risks of becoming a casualty. It also shows that there are strong spatial differences (regional and between different types of towns) in bicycle use and the risk of an accident. This suggests that cycling policies should be spatially differentiated.     

Exploring the impacts of land use by service coverage and station-level accessibility on rail transit ridership

In this study, we employ spatial regression analysis to empirically investigate the impacts of land use, rail service coverage, and rail station accessibility on rail transit ridership in the city of Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan region. Our analyses suggest that a rail transit service coverage boundary of 500 m provides the best fit for estimating rail transit ridership levels. With regard to land use, our results confirm that density is positively related to rail transit ridership within a 750 m radius of each station. In contrast, land use diversity is not associated with rail transit ridership. We also found that station-level accessibility is as important as land use for explaining rail transit ridership levels. Finally, we conclude that development density and station-level accessibility measures such as the number of station entrances or exits and the number of bus routes at the station are the most important and consistent factors for promoting rail transit ridership.     

Cyclists' exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise in central city neighbourhoods of Montreal

It is well known that bicycling in urban areas has beneficial effects on people's health and well-being. On the other hand, urban cycling, especially during the morning and evening commute, may be associated with health and safety risks due to potentially high levels of exposure to air pollution, road noise, and high traffic density. Few studies have, however, measured cyclists' exposure to noise and air pollution simultaneously.The objective of this research is to evaluate cyclists' exposure to air pollution and noise in central city neighbourhoods of Montreal and to identify the impact on exposure of associated local factors such as weather conditions, the day and time, the type of road, bicycle path or lane used and the characteristics of the immediate environment around the cyclist's route.A total of 85 bicycle trips were analyzed, representing 422 km of travel and nearly 25 h of data collection. The mean exposure levels were 70.5 dB(A) for noise and 76 μg/m³ for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). A very weak negative correlation was found between the two measures of exposure (R² = − 0.07, p = 0.005).The results of the spatial regression models show that the morning commute and trips on collector roads and on-street bike lanes and shared bike lanes have significant and positive impacts on exposure to air pollution and noise. On the other hand, some factors are only significant for one or the other of the two types of exposure.     

En-route weather and place valuations for different transport mode users

With the increasing societal interest in climate change, mostly separated strands of literature have investigated the travel-behavioural, thermo-sensational and environmental–psychological effects of weather on people in everyday life. This research conceptually and statistically integrates these fragmented insights. Drawing on unique Greater Rotterdam (The Netherlands) travel diary data enriched with hourly meteorological and spatial route attributes, we analyse how weather affects different transport mode users’ en-route place valuations in terms of liveliness, friendliness and aesthetics. Our main findings indicate that windy, cloudy, cold (<15 °C) or too hot (⩾25 °C) weather conditions negatively affect en-route place valuations, either directly or through lower thermal comfort. Active mode users generally value their route surroundings more positively than motorised transport modes, however they also appear more strongly affected by weather in their thermal experiences and place valuations. Policy makers are advised to expand climate-sensitive urban planning along active transport mode infrastructures.     

Land use characteristics of subway catchment areas and their influence on subway ridership in Seoul

This study has dual research objectives: 1) to evaluate the land use characteristics of the pedestrian catchment areas (PCA) of subway stations in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) in terms of transit-oriented development (TOD) principles and 2) to investigate the influence of each PCA's land use characteristics on station-level ridership. The major findings can be summarized as follows. First, the built environments of subway PCAs in Seoul were found to be compatible with TOD principles in terms of density and diversity. They have declining density gradients of population and employment that extend outward from a station and have a high level of mixed-use land.Second, population and employment densities, land use mix diversity, and intermodal connectivity all have a positive impact on subway ridership, but differ in their spatial ranges. In particular, the influence spans of residential and commercial development patterns (population density and the proportion of commercial land) and mixed land use on ridership were limited to only the core and primary PCAs. Consequently, with respect to TOD in a compact city like Seoul, we recommend that a PCA be defined to encompass a radius of 600 m.     

Commuting efficiency in the Beijing metropolitan area: an exploration combining smartcard and travel survey data

Using Beijing as an example, this research demonstrates that smartcard data can be used to (a) assemble the required data for excess commuting studies, and (b) visualise related results. Based on both smartcard and household travel survey data, we find that the theoretical minimum commute is considerably lower for bus users than for car users in Beijing. This suggests that there is a greater inter-mixing of jobs–housing functions (i.e., a better jobs–housing balance) associated with users of that mode compared to the corresponding land-use arrangement for car users, who locate further from the central area (Tian’anmen) than bus users. The commuting range for car users is 9.4 km greater than for bus users. Excess commuting is slightly higher for bus users (69.5%) than for car users (68.8%). Commuting capacity values are slightly lower for car users than for bus users, implying that car users consume less of their available commuting resources overall than bus users, albeit only marginally.     

Development and test of the Perceived Accessibility Scale (PAC) in public transport

Perceived accessibility, defined as “how easy it is to live a satisfactory life using the transport system”, is proposed to be a complementary measure to conventional, objective measures of accessibility. Aiming at capturing the subjective element of accessibility, as opposed to conventional accessibility that is based on the same objective attributes for large areas or groups of people, the authors developed and tested a measure of perceived accessibility; the four items self-reported Perceived Accessibility Scale (PAC). In study 1, 237 users of public transport rated PAC. The results showed that PAC is a reliable measure. The PAC was further validated and proved reliable in two waves (study 2) in altered conditions (Wave 1, N = 246, Wave 2, N = 259). Based on this, an overall PAC index was constructed. PAC can be used to determine the traveler's (or possible travelers) opinion of accessibility in transport planning or accessibility-mapping, or for directing interventions aimed at improving accessibility to where they are best needed according to the individuals. Further development of the PAC and its potential within transport research and planning, and its future validation is discussed.     

Active-transport walking behavior: destinations,durations, distances

This paper fills a gap in our knowledge of active-transport (AT) walking, by presenting detailed aspects of walking behavior for a medium-sized North American city. It analyzes the frequency and length of walking episodes, categorized by origins, purposes, and destinations, and also investigates distance-decay functions for major destinations. The study employs day-after recall time diary and questionnaire data from the 2007–8 Space–Time Activity Research (STAR) survey conducted in Halifax, Canada. GPS co-ordinate data enhanced the accuracy of location information, start times, and end times of the 1790 AT walking episodes, while GIS software was used to compute a shortest-path distance between the origin and destination of each episode.Home is both the most common origin and destination for AT walks, and the most common purpose is travel-to-shop rather than travel-to-work. Most walks are to non-home locations, such as retail establishments and offices. Particularly important are restaurants and bars, grocery stores, shopping centers, banks, and other services. All major destinations show strong distance-decay effects: most walks are shorter than 600 m, and very few exceed 1200 m. The assumption employed in the walkability literature, that one should restrict the ‘neighborhood of opportunity’ to walking destinations within 1000 m of the home, is seen to be well justified. However, a planning policy focus on the walker’s home neighborhood is revealed as questionable, since the majority of walking trips do not originate from the home. The relationship between urban land-use patterns and walkability may therefore require some rethinking.     

Continuity and change in American urban freeway networks

The American Interstate Highway System was created in 1944, though construction did not commence until 1956. During the planning process for this network the blueprint for American urban freeway systems was set in 1955 by a federal document called the Yellow Book. This provided about 100 maps of cities with planned urban freeway locations for the Interstate Highway System. A set of three basic network patterns were applied to these cities based on their size and location. In the half century since 1955 urban freeways in the Interstate System have expanded from a planned 2000 miles to over 16,600 miles, along with another 11,500 miles of non-Interstate freeways. The number of large metropolitan areas has increased tremendously while the monocentric commuting patterns of have been transformed. This paper explores how these urban freeway systems were applied to the country's urban geography of the 1950s and how they have adapted to changing populations and other transformations in American metropolitan areas in the last half century.     

A supply chain network design model for biomass co-firing in coal-fired power plants

We propose a framework for designing the supply chain network for biomass co-firing in coal-fired power plants. This framework is inspired by existing practices with products with similar physical characteristics to biomass. We present a hub-and-spoke supply chain network design model for long-haul delivery of biomass. This model is a mixed integer linear program solved using benders decomposition algorithm. Numerical analysis indicates that 100 million tons of biomass are located within 75 miles from a coal plant and could be delivered at $8.53/dry-ton; 60 million tons of biomass are located beyond 75 miles and could be delivered at $36/dry-ton.     

Effects of upgrading to cycle highways - An analysis of demand induction,use patterns and satisfaction before and after

ObjectiveThe objective of the present study is to investigate the effects of improvements made to two large, interconnected bicycle infrastructure in the western suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark, on bicycle volumes and mode share, and cyclists' behaviour, perceptions, and experiences.MethodsEffects are assessed by analysing data from automatic counting stations during 35 months to measure the changes in bicycle volumes on the investigated routes. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey repeated three times – before, and one and two years after opening the improved routes - is used. Findings are supported by a control survey at a nearby facility, which was not influenced by the infrastructure improvements.ResultsThe investments related to the two investigated cases of infrastructure improvements resulted in a significant increase in the volume of bicyclist two years after the improvements. On one of the routes, the “Albertslund Route”, on weekdays during the rush hour in daylight, an increase from 126 to 203 bicyclists/h was recorded, whereas an increase from 24 to 32 bicyclists/h was recorded at “Vestvolden” for the same period. Most of the increase could be attributed to relocation of bicyclists from other routes. Induced cycling trips – trips that were not previously made by bicycle - were estimated to account for only 4–5% of the bicyclists two years after improvements. Bicyclists using the improved route express an increase in satisfaction with the quality of the facilities, which is significantly higher than at the control site.ConclusionData from the counting stations provides useful information if measured over a long period. This is necessary to correct for factors such as climate effects and temporal variation. Investments in cycle infrastructure in the investigated case led to a higher number of bicyclists who were mainly relocated from other routes. A minor increase in the modal share of cyclists was observed two years after the infrastructure improvements. Furthermore, the investments resulted in a higher degree of satisfaction among active bicyclists. If measured over a longer period, this could lead to a higher modal share due to a potential social advertising effect.     

Ride-sourcing compared to its public-transit alternative using big trip data

Ride-sourcing risks increasing GHG emissions by replacing public transit (PT) for some trips therefore, understanding the relation of ride-sourcing to PT in urban mobility is crucial. This study explores the competition between ride-sourcing and PT through the lens of big data analysis. This research uses 4.3 million ride-sourcing trip records collected from Chengdu, China over a month, dividing these into two categories, transit-competing (48.2%) and non-transit-competing (51.8%). Here, a ride-sourcing trip is labelled transit-competing if and only if it occurs during the day and there is a PT alternative such that the walking distance associated with it is less than 800 m for access and egress alike. We construct a glass-box model to characterise the two ride-sourcing trip categories based on trip attributes and the built environment from the enriched trip data. This study provides a good overview of not only the main factors affecting the relationship between ride-sourcing and PT, but also the interactions between those factors. The built environment, as characterised by points of interest (POIs) and transit-stop density, is the most important aspect followed by travel time, number of transfers, weather, and a series of interactions between them. Competition is more likely to arise if: (1) the travel time by ride-sourcing <15 min or the travel time by PT is disproportionately longer than ride-sourcing; (2) the PT alternative requires multiple transfers, especially for the trips happening within the transition area between the central city and the outskirts; (3) the weather is good; (4) land use is high-density and high-diversity; (5) transit access is good, especially for the areas featuring a large number of business and much real estate. Based on the main findings, we discuss a few recommendations for transport planning and policymaking.     

Social segregation around the clock in the Paris region (France)

While social scientists have invested a lot of energy in exploring the uneven distribution of social groups in the city, they have surprisingly limited their efforts to investigating social segregation at the place of residence. The present paper investigates social segregation over the 24 h a day in the Paris region, taking into account how social groups move within a city throughout the day.From a large and precise daily travel survey carried out in the Paris region (EGT 2010) among 25,500 respondents aged 16 or over, we have computed segregation indices and maps hour by hour from respondents' educational and socioprofessional indicators. We then observed that social segregation within the Paris region decreases during the day and that the most segregated group (the upper class group) during the night remains the most segregated during the day. We also explored how the co-presence between various social groups evolves throughout the day. Finally, we highlighted some large variations in districts' social composition over 24 h: districts with similar social composition during the night can differ deeply in their social composition during the day-time because of socially selective daily trips.Exploring social segregation around the clock helps in considering more dynamically place effects on individual behavior and targeting areas to implement interventions more connected with the real city rhythm.     

Improving interchanges in China: the experiential phenomenon

This paper examines the development of multimodal passenger rail hubs as part of the high-speed rail (HSR) network in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The instrumental, attitudinal and affective experience of the journey through the interchange is assessed from the user perspective. Surveys are used from three HSR stations: Beijing South, Chengdu East and Suzhou North (N = 150), representing three types of HSR stations, i.e. national capital, regional capital and sub-regional city. ‘Expected’ and ‘realised’ facilities are compared – with the difference representing the ‘disgruntlement’ factor (after Stradling et al., 2007).The unprecedented urbanisation process currently being witnessed in the PRC, together with the rapid development of the HSR network and associated multimodal interchanges, offers much opportunity to develop a leading-edge public transport system and urban development predicated on the use of public transport. Although the importance of intermodal interchange hubs is being increasingly recognised, the journey experience through the interchange often remains poor, with problems including Wi-Fi availability, waiting and seating, the availability of door-to-door ticketing, crowdedness, access to the hub, time of travel through and waiting in the hub. MANOVA analysis and factorial (three way) MANOVA analysis are used to explore the differences between intermodal hubs, with many instrumental and particularly attitudinal and affective factors being significantly influenced by location.     

Future mobility in India: Implications for energy demand and CO2 emission

The aim of this study is threefold. First, it aims to provide a reliable data set of land-based passenger traffic volumes in India from 1950–1951 to 2000–2001 for the five major motorized modes of transport—two-wheelers, cars, auto-rickshaws, buses, and railways. Second, based on this data set, it aims to estimate the long-term trends in motorized traffic volume and modal split up to the year 2020–2021. Third, based on the projected values of aggregate traffic volume and modal split, this study aims to estimate the level and growth of energy demand and CO₂ emission from the passenger transport sector in India. It is found that the motorized traffic volume in India will very nearly touch the mark of 13 000 billion passenger-kilometers in 2020–2021, out of which 91.7% will be provided by the roads and the rest by railways. If there is no reduction in modal energy and CO₂ intensities, energy demand is projected to increase from 1060.8 peta joules in 2000–2001 to 5584.4 peta joules in 2020–2021 and CO₂ emission will increase from 19.80 to 93.25 million metric tons of carbon equivalent during the same period.     

Bus rapid transit impacts on land uses and land values in Seoul,Korea

Bus rapid transit (BRT) has gained popularity as a cost-effective alternative to urban rail investments; however, relatively little is known about its impacts on land-use changes and land values. This paper examines the land-market effects of converting regular bus operations to median-lane bus services in Seoul, Korea, one of the densest, most congested cities in the world. Multilevel models reveal BRT improvements prompted property owners to convert single-family residences to higher density apartments and condominiums. Land price premiums of up to 10% were estimated for residences within 300 m of BRT stops and more than 25% for retail and other non-residential uses over a smaller impact zone of 150 m. The research findings underscore the importance of introducing zoning and other land regulatory changes prior to the initiation of BRT improvements as well as applying value-capture tools to help finance investments and redress inequities.     

A dynamic carsharing decision support system

This paper proposes a dynamic optimization–simulation model as a decision support system for one-way carsharing organizations. To reduce the vehicle imbalance in one-way systems, a Vehicle Relocation Optimization model is solved successively in a discrete event simulation. Each event is the arrival of a new user. The model is compared to an a priori benchmark model. Autoshare is chosen as a case study. Results show that increasing the reservation time (time between requesting and picking up a vehicle) from 0 to 30 min reduces fleet size by 86%. The model captures a tradeoff between vehicle relocation hours and fleet size.