Four types of potential bicycle riders

I think most of us have come across the research undertaken by Roger Geller on the four types of transportation cyclists in Portland, Oregon. I have seen it referenced in multiple reports, but have also heard many questions about its applicability across geographies.

Recently I came across some research undertaken under the Transportation Research Board in the USA that aimed to expand the model to assess other cities in the USA. You can purchase the research report by Jennifer Dill on the TRB site here. I found this very useful slide presentation from 2015 on the LinkedIn Slideshare that summarises the outcomes of the research report.

Four Types of Cyclists: A National Look from TREC at PSU

Now  we just need some similar research in Australian cities. I am quite certain that the Australian population will have a similar profile of potential bicycle riders, but local research is always more pwerful to reference.

Mode share targets

Mode share targets for active transport are always a bone of contention when preparing a transport strategy. The targets for active mode share in the Queensland Cycle Strategy (2011 - 2021)  and Connecting SEQ 2031 are often dismissed as unrealistic - nice ideas but not possible.

Part of the problem is that there is very little empirical evidence that is available to test active transport mode share targets. Mode share targets are most often tested/verified using a strategic transport model. However, none of the models we typically use in transport planning include active transport in the trip choice algorithm. Therefore we cannot use modelling alone to develop mode share projections. There is a need for a method to empirically develop realistic mode share targets.

One way is through citing evidence from other jurisdictions. Citing city-wide active transport mode share for world's best practice (like the Netherlands) is unlikely to win much support from anyone other than an active transport disciple. There is too much that is different between the structure of cities and the management of our networks for this to be a realistic comparison.

However, what is useful is comparing active transport mode share for different distance bands (trips less than 1km for walking mode share, and those less than 3km and 5km for cycling mode share). That way the structure of the city doesn't cloud the mode share argument. Citing Australian or American good practice active mode share for short trips as the target to aspire to can sometimes make a significant difference to active transport mode share for the city or region as a whole. The argument that this is not Europe can then be removed from the discussion. What is essential is that the strategic modelling incorporate these assumptions into their future modelling projections or the model will not register this change and will over-estimate the number of vehicle trips for short trips.

But the argument about active transport mode share targets is often due to the fact that it is very difficult to visualise a 6%, 3% or 1% cycling mode share for all day trips. We need to translate this from a percentage into a behaviour. A useful tool here is the household travel surveys (HTS) - an extremely valuable resource for transport planning and strategy.

Looking at an arbitrary example - Rockhampton. With a current cycling mode share of 1% what does this mean in behaviours. According to the HTS a resident of Rockhampton and Yeppoon make on average 3.4 trips per weekday. That translates into 17 trips per person for a typical work week. There are an average of 2.8 residents per household in Rockhampton. That makes 48 trips per household for a typical week (excluding weekends).

With an active mode share of 1% that equates to each resident making a one-way cycle trip every six weeks. Or each household making one return cycling trip a month (note that your daily commute to and from work is two trips, not one). This trip could be a recreational trip every two weeks (going for a bike ride = 1 trip), a trip to the shops once a month, or the kid cycling to school one day a month. These trips make up almost 70% of the trips made in a typical work week.

3% cycling mode share means every household makes 3 return cycle trips a month.
6% cycling mode share means every household makes 6 return cycle trips a month.
10% cycling mode share means one person in every household rides their bike to work/school/shops every day for half of the month.

When I was young most of us cycled to and from school. When we visited friends we walked or cycled. We rarely were driven anywhere. The National Cycle Strategy says that half of Australian households own one or more bicycles. If one resident of every one of these households were empowered to use their bicycle to make any trip at least once a week we would have more than a 3% daily cycling mode share.

When mode share is translated into behaviours in this way the targets seem so much more achievable.

City Cycling

John Putcher and Ron Buehler have edited a new book - City Cycling - that provides 'a guide to today's urban cycling renaissance, with information on cycling's health benefits, safety, bikes and equipment, bike lanes, bike sharing and other topics'. City Press has more details here: http://citycyclingbook.wordpress.com/

The table of contents looks interesting with contributions from several experts. I am sure it would be a good read. It came to my attention in an email on the emerging trend to choose style over speed with cycling, and the move to get separation of cyclists from traffic.

His response to the latter was excellent and he noted the complexity of the issue of separated cycle lanes. As with anything, separated cycle lanes are not the solution to every problem and a multi-faceted approach to providing for cyclists is required to respond to the wide range of needs of different categories of cyclists and their trip purposes.

I invite the first person to read this book to write a review for this blog.

BMW Guggenheim Lab

Rachel Smith was telling me about an exciting project she has the privaledge of being involved in - the BMW Guggenheim Lab. They have a web site, blog and twitter feed.  Here is what it is all about in her own words:

"Rachel was nominated by Enrique Penalosa the former Mayor of Bogota and international urbanist and selected by the advisory committee and curators of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York. 

The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a mobile laboratory travelling to 9 cities over 6 years led by international, interdisciplinary teams of emerging talents in urbanism, architecture, technology and sustainability. The Lab addresses issues of contemporary urban life through programs and public discourse. Its goal is the exploration of new ideas, experimentation, and ultimately the creation of forward-thinking solutions for city life. 

The Lab, designed by Tokyo-based architects Atelier Bow-Wow, is a combination think tank, public forum, and community centre. The theme for Cycle 1: Berlin, New York and Mumbai is ‘Confronting comfort’ aiming to make urban places more responsive to inhabitants needs. Cycle 1 will conclude with an exhibition presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2013. 

Rachel’s theme for Lab is ‘Dynamic Connections’ which explores many topics including urban transformation, e-mobility and car sharing, open source crowd sourced transport cartography, place making and collaborative consumption. In addition to developing 11 themes of urban public programming Rachel is working with her three lab team members on an ‘urban installation’ to be launched in Berlin on 23 May 2012. 

The BMW Guggenheim Lab Berlin Team comprises of

• José Gómez-Márquez, program director for the Innovations in International Health Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
• Professor Carlo Ratti, architect and engineer who practices in Italy and directs the SENSEable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
• Dr Corinne Rose a Berlin-based artist who works with photography and video and teaches at the Bern University of the Arts
• Rachel Smith, principal transport planner with AECOM, based in Brisbane, Australia

Dutch Cycling Embassy

Cycling For Everyone from Dutch Cycling Embassy on Vimeo.

Rachel Smith pointed me towards this fantastic little video about the Dutch Cycling Embassy. It is an initiative of the government in the Netherlands to provide access to their extensive network of cycling resources, research, expertise and experience.