Ride in Peace: How Cycling Infrastructure Types Affect Traffic Conflict Occurrence in Montréal, Canada

Abstract

Urban cycling is increasingly common in many North American cities and has the potential to address key challenges of urban mobility, congestion, air pollution and health. However, lack of safety is often cited by potential bike users as the most important deterrent to cycling. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cycling facility type on traffic conflict likelihood. Four participants recorded a total of 87 h (1199 km) of video, which was reviewed by trained observers to identify and characterize traffic conflicts, yielding 465 conflicts with vehicles and 209 conflicts with pedestrians. Bootstrapped generalized additive logit regressions (GAM) were built to predict traffic conflict likelihood. Results show that while cycling on an off-street bike path effectively reduces the likelihood of conflict with a vehicle, it increases the probability of conflict with a pedestrian. Bike lanes were associated with an increase in the likelihood of a conflict with a vehicle. Decision makers should favor physically segregated and clearly marked cyclist-only facilities to ensure safe and efficient conditions for commuter cyclists.