The Characteristics of Bicycle Behaviour in Cyclist-Pedestrian Mixed Flow on Shared Paths: A Case Study of Hamasen Railway Cultural Park

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the kinematic features and to model the interaction between cyclists and pedestrians on shared paths Walking and cycling are linked to sustainable transport because both pedestrians and cyclists are non-motorized road users who contribute to healthy low-carbon lifestyles To encourage these two traffic modes it is common to construct shared paths to provide safer environments that protect non-motorized users from general traffic Although a shared space might be more efficient in terms of saving money and space it can cause conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians Hence it is critical to understand the interaction between bicycles and pedestrians in order to design safe shared paths particularly from a kinematics perspective The data for this analysis were collected with a novel approach using aerial videography Hamasen Railway Cultural Park in Kaohsiung City Taiwan was chosen as the survey site All road users’ trajectories as well as their interaction could be observed and then extracted with a semi-automatic trajectory extraction system to establish the database The basic kinematic parameters of each object such as locations speeds steering angles accelerations and decelerations were stored in a database for further analysis Some macroscopic and microscopic mixed traffic characteristics were investigated and reported such as speed differences lateral distances longitudinal distances and time-to-collision of cyclist-pedestrian mixed flow To depict cyclist overtaking behaviour models based on a discrete choice model were also established This paper introduces a new method for cyclist-pedestrian mixed flow surveys The results also contribute information for urban design infrastructure management and policy implementation of shared path plans to encourage a non-motorized eco-friendly traffic mode In addition the information obtained is of great help to the calibration of microscopic models and simulation software describing pedestrian and bicycle movements for further application both in academia and in practice

Date of Award	2016 Aug 31
Original language	English
Supervisor	Tzu-Chang Lee (Supervisor)