Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization

With the growing popularity of motorized Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) for urban travel, there is increasing need to understand the impacts on transportation facility operation. Speed is a critical aspect of vehicle performance, and the lack of robust information on PMD operating speeds hinders f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Amir Hassanpour, Alexander Bigazzi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950105924000123
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850065376159727616
author Amir Hassanpour
Alexander Bigazzi
author_facet Amir Hassanpour
Alexander Bigazzi
author_sort Amir Hassanpour
collection DOAJ
description With the growing popularity of motorized Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) for urban travel, there is increasing need to understand the impacts on transportation facility operation. Speed is a critical aspect of vehicle performance, and the lack of robust information on PMD operating speeds hinders facility design, regulation, and policy for safe and comfortable PMD integration. The objectives of this study are 1) to derive operating speed distributions for all Personal Mobility Devices in use on off-street “cycling” facilities in metropolitan Vancouver, Canada, and 2) to determine how PMD speeds are influenced by microenvironment factors including facility type, path grade, weather, and path traffic volume. Classified speed data for 27 PMD types were collected in 4 seasons at 12 sampling locations in Vancouver, Canada. Results from the 25,053 observations show that motorization increases speeds by 3, 10, and 13 km/hr for bicycles, skateboards, and scooters, respectively, which tends to homogenize average speeds across PMD types at around 20–24 km/hr. Motorization also decreases the effect of grade on speed by about 2/3rd. Even with motorization, bicycle and other PMD speeds rarely exceed the regulatory limit of 32 km/hr – except for sit-down electric scooters which have exceptionally high speeds. Scenario analysis indicates that even with large penetration rates of motorized PMD, a 30 km/hr design speed for off-street paths would still be appropriate, although less conservative.
format Article
id doaj-art-9f613b42bd7d49498bcd615be1280fba
institution DOAJ
issn 2950-1059
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research
spelling doaj-art-9f613b42bd7d49498bcd615be1280fba2025-08-20T02:49:01ZengElsevierJournal of Cycling and Micromobility Research2950-10592024-12-01210002110.1016/j.jcmr.2024.100021Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorizationAmir Hassanpour0Alexander Bigazzi1Department of Civil Engineering, The University of British Columbia, 2029 – 6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, CanadaCorresponding author.; Department of Civil Engineering, The University of British Columbia, 2029 – 6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, CanadaWith the growing popularity of motorized Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) for urban travel, there is increasing need to understand the impacts on transportation facility operation. Speed is a critical aspect of vehicle performance, and the lack of robust information on PMD operating speeds hinders facility design, regulation, and policy for safe and comfortable PMD integration. The objectives of this study are 1) to derive operating speed distributions for all Personal Mobility Devices in use on off-street “cycling” facilities in metropolitan Vancouver, Canada, and 2) to determine how PMD speeds are influenced by microenvironment factors including facility type, path grade, weather, and path traffic volume. Classified speed data for 27 PMD types were collected in 4 seasons at 12 sampling locations in Vancouver, Canada. Results from the 25,053 observations show that motorization increases speeds by 3, 10, and 13 km/hr for bicycles, skateboards, and scooters, respectively, which tends to homogenize average speeds across PMD types at around 20–24 km/hr. Motorization also decreases the effect of grade on speed by about 2/3rd. Even with motorization, bicycle and other PMD speeds rarely exceed the regulatory limit of 32 km/hr – except for sit-down electric scooters which have exceptionally high speeds. Scenario analysis indicates that even with large penetration rates of motorized PMD, a 30 km/hr design speed for off-street paths would still be appropriate, although less conservative.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950105924000123SpeedBicyclesElectric bicyclesMicromobilityHuman-electric hybrid vehicles
spellingShingle Amir Hassanpour
Alexander Bigazzi
Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization
Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research
Speed
Bicycles
Electric bicycles
Micromobility
Human-electric hybrid vehicles
title Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization
title_full Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization
title_fullStr Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization
title_full_unstemmed Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization
title_short Operating speed distributions in off-street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization
title_sort operating speed distributions in off street cycling facilities by vehicle type and motorization
topic Speed
Bicycles
Electric bicycles
Micromobility
Human-electric hybrid vehicles
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950105924000123
work_keys_str_mv AT amirhassanpour operatingspeeddistributionsinoffstreetcyclingfacilitiesbyvehicletypeandmotorization
AT alexanderbigazzi operatingspeeddistributionsinoffstreetcyclingfacilitiesbyvehicletypeandmotorization