Influence of Bike Lane Types on Perceived Comfort & Safety of Cyclists

This report investigates the influence of different bike lane types on the perceived comfort and safety of bicyclists and potential bicyclists. The introduction and background highlight the increasing popularity of cycling in developed nations as a means of environmentally friendly and safe transport, emphasizing the importance of safety in encouraging bicycle use. The problem statement addresses the need for improved cycling infrastructure in Australia to increase participation and enhance the health and transport system. The literature review examines existing research on bicycle transportation, focusing on the impact of infrastructure such as bike lanes and paths on cyclist behavior, accident rates, and comfort levels. It references studies on injury rates in different lane types, the correlation between infrastructure and cycling participation, and the role of distance and urban design in influencing cycling behavior. The research methodology outlines a quantitative research design using questionnaires and interviews to gather data from cyclists and accident victims. The report aims to determine the number of injuries related to different bike lane types, understand cyclists' perceptions of safety and comfort, and identify gaps in current bicycle transport infrastructure to inform urban planning policies. The data sources include closed-ended questionnaires and interviews to focus on the issue of different buffer lanes and how they improve safety and comfort among cyclists.

INFLUENCE OF BIKE LANE TYPES ON PERCEIVED COMFORT AND SAFETY OF
BICYCLISTS AND POTENTIAL BICYCLISTS
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Influence of Bike Lane Types on Perceived Comfort and Safety of Bicyclists and Potential
bicyclists
Author’s Name
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INFLUENCE OF BIKE LANE TYPES ON PERCEIVED COMFORT AND SAFETY OF
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Contents
Title Page.....................................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND...........................................................................................................3
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................3
Background..............................................................................................................................................3
Problem Statement.................................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.........................................................................................................................8
Data Source.............................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................11

INFLUENCE OF BIKE LANE TYPES ON PERCEIVED COMFORT AND SAFETY OF
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INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
Introduction
The culture of riding bicycles is increasing popularity in the developed nations as they
strive to achieve environmentally friendly and safe transport methods. States have tried to
promote bicycle travel as a way to improve the urban transportation system and reduce the use of
automobiles, which contribute to environmental pollution (Aldred and Jungnickel, 2014, p. 85).
But the bicyclist will consider this type of transport when the safety needs are well catered.
Mostly, people prefer the streets with bike lanes since they have a high perception of safety when
riding through such lanes. Therefore the Urban design and planning have considered the aspect
of security for bicyclists in the urban centers by improving designs to help provide buffers
between the bike lane and the other traffic lanes. The enforcement of these buffers is done by
increasing blockage for other traffic users, particularly automobiles, from accessing the paths by
adding planters, curbs, and bollards (DiGioia et al., 2017, p.115). With increased barriers to
separate the bicycle lanes and the main road is growing consensus, it increases the sense of
safety.
Background
China is among the governments that are highly advocating for bicyclists as a means of
transport. The main aim is to ensure that they decongest the roads and reduce the use of
automobiles as well as facilitating movement. Therefore, that is accompanied by the government
issuing funds to improve safety lanes. As a result, it increases the confidence of safety among
bicyclists when using bicycles as a means of transport. In Australia in history, there has been less
funding for cyclists and pedestrians. As many funds in road infrastructure are directed to the
roads. Less attention is given to people who walk or cycle through the urban places. In specific,

INFLUENCE OF BIKE LANE TYPES ON PERCEIVED COMFORT AND SAFETY OF
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20 % of the transport funding should go to non-motorized transport as per the United Nations
target (Pojani et al., 2018, n.p). But most of the Australian states have as low as 2 % and below.
Only Australian Capital Territory has tried to meet the United Nations guideline with 14% of the
transport budget allocated to non-motorized transport.
With less funding, the culture of bicycle transportation has not grown as expected,
despite there is an improvement over the last two decades. But mostly, the case of safety is the
issue raised by most of the non-motorized road users. The different types of bike lane buffers
include vertical physical protection in case of cycle track and protected bike lane. More
importantly, the width also matters to offer a comfortable riding experience. Besides, cyclists are
overrepresented in traffic crash causalities. With better cycling infrastructure, it increases
participation. The research by De Rome et al. (2014, p. 78) concluded that there were fewer
injury cases in on-road lanes while high injuries were witnessed in the shared paths. Therefore,
the criteria and management strategies for ways development is suitable for segregated usage.
Crane et al. (2017, p.3) suggested that infrastructure is directly correlated with bicycle
transportation in Sydney and Australia. When the transport infrastructure for cyclists is provided,
it improves the number of users, but with poor transport infrastructure, the decrease in
participation is witnessed.
Problem Statement
As more countries are move to more green types of transportation, Australia is ranking
behind due to the reduced cycling participation in recent years. The need to improve health and
the entire transport system requires that there is the proper infrastructure to support and enhance
Bike use within the urban residents. The decreasing number may result in unhealthy living and

INFLUENCE OF BIKE LANE TYPES ON PERCEIVED COMFORT AND SAFETY OF
BICYCLISTS AND POTENTIAL BICYCLISTS
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increase the congestion on the roads. Therefore, the major challenge is the state providing better
infrastructure through better funding as required by the United Nations.
Research objectives
 Determining the number of injuries related to different bike lane types.
 Understanding the perception of safety and comfort among cyclists.
 Identifying the gaps in the current bicycle transport infrastructure to aid in urban planning
policies.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Bicycle transportation as a way to improve healthy living and as an alternative means of
transport has resulted in the conduction of many studies. Some have focused on the behaviors
that can help and make people adopt the mode of transport. Many factors have been looked into
through various studies like the provision of bicycles, policies, and urban infrastructure to
support the transportation mode. There are a few articles that look at the overall planning process
to improve bicycle transportation as well as ways to determine how the program will be
achieved. The study focuses much on the availability of bicycle facilities like bicycle paths,
trails and lanes and the effects they have on bicycling.
De Rome et al., (2014, p.3) suggested that better infrastructure improved the participation
in bicycling in the Australian Urban settings but no evidence on whether better infrastructure
reduced the number of injuries. Through the research, De Rome et al., (2014, p.80) recruited
emergency departments in the Australian Capital Territory and interviewed on injury reports.
The results of the study showed that out of all the patients, 39.1% had crashed in traffic, 7.9% in
shared paths, 36.1% in shared tracks, and 16.8% in footpaths. Most of them sustained minor and

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mild injuries nut only 5% sustained severe injuries. Indeed fewer cyclists were injured in on-
roads lanes that other environments. Boufous et al. (2013, p.360), after comparing and analyzing
trends, circumstances, and outcomes of single versus multi-vehicle on-road crashes, found out
that 80% were single-vehicle crash. In the case of shared paths, the cyclist is more likely to get
into a collision with a single vehicle into a multi-vehicle crash.
Brisbane Australia constructed bicycle infrastructure to encourage safer and faster
cycling despite that there were limited infrastructure investments. As a result, there was a more
considerable increase in monthly counts of cyclists in Brisbane. That indicates that veroways
attract more cyclists from other suburbs to the city (Heesch, 2016, p. 344). Mainly, bicycle lanes
are designed in a way that achieves the segregation from motorized traffic and improved
connectivity, visibility, continuity and uniformity and comfort. Marqués, 2015, p.41) concluded
that the building of facilities provides grounds for developing utilitarian cycling be ensuring the
highest level of cost-effectiveness within the city.
Further, to improve culture cycling, the government needs to step in and treat bicycle
transportation like other forms of transport infrastructure. There is a high correlation between
people choosing non-motorized trips and the likelihood of selecting an active transport mode
(Whalen, p.138). When the infrastructures are managed and developed to cater to the safety and
interests of users, it improves the usage of bicycle transportation (DiGioia et al., 2017,p.122). As
a result, this provides the best tool to estimate traffic safety and the walk-bike infrastructure to
aid in decision making on investment plans (Aziz et al., 2018, p.1210). Further, proper facilities
built-in urban form are essential in helping increase the usage of bicycle transportation, but also
the distance matters. Small distances to retail enhance the use of the bike, unlike those who are

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far may opt for motorized transport. In other older cities, the street system is based on grids to
allow cyclists to plan the route to take to avoid heavy traffic but ensuring that the facilities are
capable of providing a mix of uses.
The ability of the city to improve the infrastructure, particularly the stand-alone bicycle
transportation, it is an indicator that they encourage and want to facilitate the cyclists through a
safe and comfortable environment (McNeil, 2015, p. 129). Buffered and protected bike lanes are
valuable tools that entice cyclists and potential cyclists to use the mode of transport. The
separation from the physical roads and the motor vehicle are more preferred a since they
perceive it to be safer as compared to those sharing the trails with the motor vehicles (Chen,
2017, p. 666). Besides, striped and painted buffers increase some level of comfort, but those with
physical protection had increased and more perceived comfort and safety concerns. Further,
people living near a recently build and the protected bike has around 80% of the resident getting
interested in using the mode transport.
From the analysis of several studies, several themes have been explored, which include
bicycle transportation and crashes. De Rome et al., (2014, p.3) and Boufous et al., (2013, p.360)
focused on the accidents that happen among cyclists. There was a consensus between the two
studies that sharing of the rad with motor vehicles increases the risk of crashing among the
cyclists. Therefore that reduces their comfort and safety. Also, there is less funding of the
government to non-motorized transportation, which reduces the development of cycling paths.
Another clear theme is the direct relationship between the infrastructure and the behavior for
using bicycles. The better the facilities, the higher the chances of people use bike means through
the urban areas Heesch, 2016, p. 344; Marqués, 2015, p.41; (Aziz et al., 2018, p.1210). Another

INFLUENCE OF BIKE LANE TYPES ON PERCEIVED COMFORT AND SAFETY OF
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critical consideration that people have is distance. Those who stay far away from the retail will
consider using motor cars other than those near the retail. The distance is another factor of
consideration along with better infrastructure on why cyclists' behavior in urban areas may
increase or decrease (Aziz et al., 2018, p.1210).
Therefore, the main factors contributing to the choice of bicycle transport is transport
development facilities, distance and for health purpose. Safety and comfort are the key
determinants of people seeking different modes of transportation. In cyclists are not comfortable,
or they are not safe, they end up choosing an alternative means. More importantly, infrastructure
plays a significant role since accompanied by other factors help people select different types of
transport. As indicated by McNeil (2015, p. 129); Chen (2017, p. 666), there are fewer accidents
on the lanes that are separate from motor vehicle users. It becomes safer and comfortable if the
buffer has a physical separation of the paths.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research methodology comprises the research design, data sources, collection, and
analysis. A quantitative research design will be used to investigate the main objective of the
study. Besides, descriptive research will be used to describe the characteristics of the population
and the phenomenon. A descriptive survey design is appropriate since it will help explain the
relationship of excellent transport facilities with the perception of safety and comfort. The data
collection method is the use of questionnaires and interview with the target population. The
target population is the patients who had crashes or accidents when cycling and random cyclists
in the street.

INFLUENCE OF BIKE LANE TYPES ON PERCEIVED COMFORT AND SAFETY OF
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The study will be completed using a descriptive survey to get an in-depth description of
the phenomenon. In urban planning, a comprehensive understanding of a problem is essential to
aid in getting the right policies together with other bodies in executing infrastructure that meets
the needs of the users (Flynn et al., 2018, p.12). The people involved in the collection of data
will range from different groups of people to cover all the research objectives. The research
methodology is complemented by the use of a better data collection method to get the full
description of how a buffer lane type determines the perception of safety and comfort for
cyclists.
Data Source
A closed-ended questionnaire and interview will help to focus on the issue of different
buffer lanes and how they improve safety and comfort among cyclists. The use of a survey is
easy to analyses can be provided to a large sample, and it is easier to administer (Jann and Hinz,
2016, p.117). Therefore, the target groups in this study will include patients who have hard
crashes while cycling. That will select two hospitals where there is an emergency response unit
and identify the cyclist patients. The target for the patient sample size will be 24 participants.
They will be provided with a questionnaire to determine the type of buffer lane they got a crash
and an interview for clarification of the provided data. Then random groups of cyclists will be
identified and requested to join in the study to get 30 participants on the streets. Lastly, random
cyclists on the roads will be involved in the study through a quick interview and questionnaire.
The interview and survey will help to cover the questions extensively, and in case there is
clarification required, it can be done. The incorporation of the interview makes the results more
accurate since what is not understood can be clarified immediately. Further, through the
interview, the gaps will be identified since the participants will give their view on the cycling

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environment and the infrastructure. The regression method will be used to analyze the data
collected.
Conclusion
In conclusion, many studies on the infrastructure and how it improves the safety and
comfort. Some have focused much on the gap in the infrastructure which alter the behavior and
adoption of bicycle transportation. Therefore the research gap identified is the identification of
buffer use to determine safety and comfort for the users. There are several barriers used in the
roads like painting to identify the place left for the cyclists in the main roads. Other places use
plastic buffers for clear identification of the bicycle lane in the road. Also, permanent buffers can
be used. The use of physical barriers increase confidence among the cyclist and improve sense of
security. The implementation of cycling path are separate from the motor vehicle use are better
and have low rate of accidents and give cyclists more perception of safety. The study will
explore more on the buffer type and how they improve safety and confidence among bike users.

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