Reasons for cyclists denying new-built bicycle lanes

Abstract

Recently, cycling has been considered as one of the most potential sustainable transport modes in cities. Therefore, a great deal of bicycle facilities has been built in them. One of the most popular facilities could be the bicycle lanes (BL). However, in some cases, cyclists tend to deny using the new-built BLs. This can be viewed as a significant waste of resources. The present study aims to indicate some factors that prevent cyclists from using the BLs. To do so, initially, the effects of the impacts factors on the facility choice of the cyclists were investigated, based on an objective camera-observation survey in the daily cycling environment. Then, the impact trends were validated and explained based on an independent subjective stated preference survey. The results showed that perceived safety was the most important aspect that decides whether they choose the BL or not. Several factors, including high vehicle volume, the existence of real-time stopping vehicles on the BL, gender, narrower width of traffic lanes, narrower width of BL, and wider sidewalk were found that negatively affected the probability of the cyclists on their choice to ride the BLs. These findings can help developers, planners, and designers to adopt more reasonable investment decisions as well as better designs while developing bicycle facilities.