Proposal and Application of a New Method for Bicycle Network Planning

Responding to the recent increase of cyclists, improvement and development of bicycle road network are being planned in many cities in Japan, and cycling environments are gradually being improved. The routes connecting facilities with many bicycles coming in and leaving are often selected as candidates in selecting suitable routes with high potential demand during the investigation of the bicycle network. There are, however, a lot of unexpected routes with large volumes of bicycle traffic because bicycles can pass through various types of routes from big roads to narrow streets. To create a bicycle road network with safety, consistency and immediacy, demand characteristics of bicycle paths including traffic demand of bicycles and route choice behavior of cyclists in the whole area need to be clarified accurately. This study proposes a way to do it precisely and easily (OLIVE method). This study also shows the panorama of the whole bicycle network and finds the problems in it by applying this method to downtown of Takamatsu City in Japan.