Characteristics of Passing and Meeting Maneuvers on Exclusive Bicycle Paths

Abstract

The findings are presented of a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of passing and meeting maneuvers of bicycles traveling on an exclusive bicycle path 3 m (10 ft) wide. The study is based on bicycle location data collected every 0.5 s from video images of bicycle traffic scenes recorded in Denver, Colorado. For passing maneuvers, the average speeds of passing and passed bicycles, the relationship between passing and passed bicycle speeds every 0.5 s, comfortable speed difference threshold, lateral spacing during passing, average passing lengths, and the shape of passing are reported. For meeting maneuvers, statistics about the average speed and lateral spacing are included; for paired riding, headway and lateral spacing statistics are included. The results also show that the average bicycle speeds estimated are significantly higher than the speeds reported from a study conducted in the Netherlands. These findings can be used to develop more accurate procedures for the analysis of the quality of service of bicycle paths. According to the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), a weighted sum of the number of passing and meeting events is used as the criterion to determine the level of service for bicycle paths. The procedures in the 2000 HCM are based on research mainly conducted in the Netherlands for two-lane or 2.4-m-wide bicycle paths and have been extended to 3-m-wide paths. The findings presented here are for 3-m-wide bicycle paths in the United States and therefore may be used to develop new procedures for HCM as well as provide the data needed to develop a bicycle simulation model.