Learning from cycle behaviour From a policy perspective the important question is what the performance of the cycle network is and how it changes over time due to the development of cycle highways. The main of objective of cycle highway remains to cater for a high-quality cycling connection between cities and or suburbs, residential areas and major (work)places and it satisfies its (potential) users. The development of cycle highways is mainly to upgrade the cycling network to stimulate cycling by enhancing the alternative for car usage in a region.
From a historical point of view regions with a cycling ambition who wanted to know more about the cycling and cycling behaviour setup an incidental or structural cycling count program. With the emergence of new cycling data collection and generation forms like GPS data, alternatives arise to go in debt on cycling behaviour. Cycle count data will remain a crucial part in the cycling data chain so next to cycling volume from traffic count a new range of option is possible:
- cycle speeds on links and routes
- relative speeds (desired vs. actual speed) on links and junctions
- cycling delays on links and routes
- origin and destination of cycling trips
- route choice (actual vs. fastest routes)
- actual cycling detour on routes
- time of day and day of week analyses
- cycling accessibility of destinations (PT stations, city centres)
In general, a distinction can be made between trip, network and area related cycling information. In existing tool like CyclePrint and BikeCitizens.Analytics, these new cycling policy are accessible for cities and regions with cycling ambitions. Expectation is that over the next years more alike functionalities will be developed. Planning the cycling city involves choices between cycling and car accessibility, social economic data, land use data and many more. Emerging floating cycling data in combination with floating car data (FCD) will only strengthen the analyses and trade-off in decisions making.
This data can also be used to calculate the potential impact of cycle highways and other cycling related infrastructural improvements. In practice the question will remain if the cyclists understand the planned cycling city or that improvements are still required. It is therefor a large gain in understanding individual cycling and preferences in cycling behaviour that a new standard for cycling monitoring is set.
In the next decade, new insights will arise due to the emerging data forms and analyses techniques. Cycle Highways have proven to be a particularly suitable subject to test and apply cycling monitoring and evaluation on. In the planning phase new questions can be answered; where do are changes in the cycling network most effective? If chosen a route alternative; which are the particular location where enhancement of the route is crucial? It can help to complete the Cycle Highway Maturity Assessment tool.