Effects of curvature, gradient and path width on cyclist behaviour : Empirical analysis of a bike path in Stockholm

Sammanfattning

The bike is an integral mode of transport in a modern city.Evaluating the performance of cycling infrastructure requires understanding the way users are affected by itsdifferent features.Existing work has mostly focused on straight, flat sections, while paying limited attention to the differencesbetween bicycle types.Variations in cycle path characteristics necessitate examining sections with differences in horizontal and verticalalignment.This study uses trajectory data from three locations to determine the impact of curves,elevation and path width changes on cyclists' speed, lateral position and interactions.The effects are analysed for different bicycle types and traffic conditions.The aforementioned features result in significant variations in the speed of cyclists, and their effect differs depending on the direction of travel.It is shown that cyclists utilise the full width of the path and even cross onto the oncominglane in a 90-degree curve.Significant differences are found between regular, electric and racing bicycles,with the latter two exhibiting significantly higher speeds.Higher traffic loads result in lower operating speeds, with the effects of the infrastructure featuresremaining consistent.The findings highlight that cyclists significantly alter their behaviour in changing infrastructureconditions and show the need to separately examine the different types of vehicles operating on bike paths.