The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of bicycle crossings and follow up on previousstudies with new data on speeds, ability to travel unhindered and accident statistics. With theintroduction of the new definition of bicycle crossing from 2014, motor vehicle drivers had to yieldfor cyclists who are traveling on, or are approaching, the bicycle crossing. The area at theintersection should also be speed-proofed to 30 km/h. The introduction meant that new behaviorswere required by both cyclists and motor vehicle drivers at these types of intersections.The report is consists of three parts; a short literature study with an international outlook, adocument analysis of accidents and bicycle crossings in Sweden as well as on site measurementsexecuted at bicycle crossings in Gävle. The literature study briefly presents some of the mostcommon speed-limiting measures to present an overview of the types of measures that can be usedto speed-proof bicycle crossings. It also presents other countries' accident statistics as well as howthey handle the problems of bicycle prioritization at crossings. The document analysis is based onthe STRADA and RDT database in order to, through a GIS software, link accidents to bicycle crossingsand thus be able to analyze how the accidents have developed over time. This analysis is made bothwith a national average and a more thorough study of the municipality of Malmö. In the on sitemeasurements executed in Gävle, the speeds of the motor vehicles on approach to bicycle crossingswere examined and the yielding behavior was studied ocularly. The measurements were carried outin two separate locations with different conditions, one with relatively high traffic flow and a plateaubump as a speed-proofing measure and one with lower flow and bus pad as a speed-proofingmeasure.It turns out that the number of accidents related to bicycle crossings has decreased in Sweden, whilethe degree of injury for these accidents has also decreased. Malmö stands out in the statistics due tothe fact that the number of accidents related to bicycle crossings has increased at the same time asthe degree of injury for the accidents has decreased. The data also shows that accidents at bicyclecrossings adjacent to roundabouts are over-represented. It is therefore proposed that bicyclecrossings adjacent to roundabouts should be avoided. The on site measurements in Gävle showedthat the speeds had decreased sharply at the site with the bus pad and that the yielding behaviorchanged after the introduction of the bicycle crossing. At the second location, with the plateaubump, the speeds have already converged and are approaching their limit values while the yieldingbehavior has improved slightly. Finally, it is concluded that bus pads have better velocity suppressioneffects than the plateau pad and that the consequential effects of a well-designed speed-proofingmeasurement can reduce the degree of injury and increased yielding.

In September 2014, a new regulation was proposed in Sweden, which indicates aset of rules of giving way under different types of bicycle intersections. Meanwhile,new definitions were endued to bicycle passages and bicycle crossings. After thepriority of cyclists is guaranteed at bicycle crossings, potential delay for motorvehicles in the mainstream should not be ignored as well.Therefore, inspired by the previous study from Movea, this thesis project is goingto focus on unsupervised bicycle passages and bicycle crossings, with the aim ofassessing and inspecting the impacts of different bicycle intersections on vehicledelays.The relationship between delay and flows at bicycle intersections has beenresearched in detail. Initially, an empirical study has been carried out on the basisof data from field measurements. In addition, a microscopic traffic simulationmodel has been constructed for the analysis of theoretical situations. The delay isproved to have a linear relationship with vehicle flow and bicycle flow. However,the linear relationship based on field data turns out to be different from the onefrom simulation output.

För att studera effekterna av att samhället prioriterar cyklande i ej signalreglerade korsningar, har en tvärvetenskaplig litteraturstudie om attraktiv cykelinfrastruktur och trafiksäkerhet genomförts tillsammans med en före-efter studie som genomförts vid fyra nya cykelöverfarter som byggts i Umeå. Cykelöverfarten är en ny typ av korsning som infördes 2014 som prioriterar cyklande likt gående prioriteras på övergångsställen efter den så kallade zebra-lagen, men cykelöverfartens utformningskrav med hastighetsäkring skyltar och vägmarkering innebär att korsningar måste byggas om för att bli cykelöverfarter, och deras spridning i landet varierar, där Gävle kommun tidigt har varit framstående. I trafikstudien har cyklandes kön, väjningsbeteende, riktning och hastighet noterats, samt motortrafikanters väjningsbeteende, totalt har ca 4700 trafikanters noterats och över 800 interaktioner mellan cyklist och bilist observerats. Resultatet visar främst på en stor skillnad mellan cyklande kvinnor och män på cykelpassager, där kvinnor väjer mer för bilar än män, men också att denna skillnad minskar när en cykelöverfart anläggs. Mindre än hälften av interaktioner mellan bilar och cyklar sker enligt trafikreglerna på cykelpassager. Potentialen att öka väjning mot cyklande med en cykelöverfart beror till stor del på utformning och hur väjningsbeteendet såg ut före insatsen då väjningsbeteende på cykelpassager varierar mycket mellan platser, medan en väl utformad cykelöverfarten visar på en god potential att nå 90% väjningsgrad med liten variation mellan platser. Hälften av cyklande i Sverige som skadas i krock med bilar skadas i korsningar, där kvinnor är mer drabbade än män. Cykelns hastighet upp till 25km/h och biltrafikens ofta höga hastighet gör det svårt för trafikanter att hinna se och väja i tid i korsning, varför cykelöverfartens varningsskyltar och hastighetssäkring för motortrafiken, samt goda fria siktlinjer är avgörande för en förutsägbar och trygg trafikmiljö med färre hårda inbromsningar. Trafikstudien visar att cyklandes hastighet ökar med i genomsnitt 2 km/h på cykelöverfarter för de flesta cyklande. Det har i tidigare studier visats att risken för olyckor inte ökar när cykelöverfarter anläggs och i litteraturstudien bekräftas detta även på teoretisk grund, cykelöverfarten har god potential att med rätt utformning skapa trafiksäkra platser där cyklister inte behöver vara modiga för att ta sig fram. Just trygghet är en viktig faktor i cykelplanering då upp till hälften av befolkningen undviker att cykla av rädsla snarare än att inte kunna eller vilja cykla. Då kvinnor är dokumenterat mer otrygga cyklande än män kan trygghetssatsningar i cykelplaneringen som cykelöverfarter betraktas som jämställd-, eller om man vill, feministisk trafikplanering. En god cykelinfrastruktur medger snabba, trygga och trevliga resor med cykel, snarare än att behöva motiveras av hälsa och miljöskäl. En god cykelinfrastruktur kännetecknas av breda släta vägar utan hinder med god separation från gående och bilar, vilket även gynnar de gående och även drift och underhållsfrågor då en mer komplicerad utformning försvårar exempelvis snöröjning. Cykelöverfartens hastighetssäkring gör cykelbanan både slätare och ökar vattenavrinning även utanför interaktion med andra trafikslag. Gående och cyklande bör separeras för bådas skull, men det kan generera konflikter i gränslandet mellan separation och gemensamma ytor med gång och cykelvägar som ofta är gemensamma jämfört med de uppdelade gång & cykelöverfarterna eller passager. Alternativa utformningar bör övervägas där det antingen finns en konsekvent separation mellan gående och cyklande, eller att man ser över behovet av övergångsställen i lågtrafikerade korsningar som istället kan vara enbart cykelöverfart som kan anpassas för ledstråk. För en ökad cykling är cykelinfrastruktur att betrakta som en hygienfaktor, vill man nå längre krävs hela-resan perspektivet både vad gäller parkering, omklädning och ekonomiska incitament, samt att för biltrafiken minska framkomlighet och parkeringsutbud. Antalet bil – cykelinteraktioner i korsning är beroende av trafikflödet i båda riktningar och kommer koncentreras till några få platser och tidpunkter i staden vilka kan prioriteras i arbetet, samtidigt som behovet av trafiksäkerhetshöjande åtgärder är stor även där interaktioner är mer osannolika längst exempelvis cykelpendlingsstråk och skolvägar. / To study effects of prioritizing cyclists in non-signalized road crossings, a cross discipline literature study about attractive bicycle infrastructure and traffic saftey for cyclists has been conducted, along with four observational before and after studies when prioritized bicycle crossings are built in Umeå, Sweden, the Swedish ‘Cykelöverfart’ was introduced in 2014, with demands on speed reduction and signage, where car drivers needs to yield to cyclist just like they are to yield to pedestrians at zebra crossings in Sweden since 1999. In this study the cyclist’s genders, yielding behavior, direction and speed been noted, along with motor traffic yielding behavior, in a total of 4700 vehicle movements have been noted and more than 800 bicycle – car interactions have been reviewed. The main result is that there is a big difference in male and female yielding behavior on bicycle in interaction with cars at a unprioritized road crossing, where cycling women yield more than men, but also that this difference between men and women decrease when a cykelöverfart is built. Less than half the car – bicycle interaction at unprioritized road crossings where bicyclist should yield are done in accordance with traffic rules. The potential to increase car drivers yielding to bicyclists with a cykelöverfart depends the crossing and the yielding behavior before since it varies a lot. A well built cykelöverfart has the potential to reach correct 90% yielding behavior. Half the bicyclists injured in car crashes in Sweden are injured in road crossings and women are worse off than men. The bicycle speed of up to 25 km/h and the often too high speed of motor traffic makes it hard for road users to be able to see and yield in time, this is why the mandatory warning signs and speed bump for the motor traffic, and free sight lines are important for a predictable and safe traffic environment with less hard breaking. The traffic study shows that most bicyclist increase their crossing speed with about 2 km/h, but also that the speed of cyclists varies a lot. Previous studies have shown that the risk of accident does not increase when a cykelöverfart is built, and in the literature study this is confirmed on a theoretical level. The cykelöverfart has good potential with the right configuration to create safe places with high traffic safety, where cyclists do not need to be brave to ride. The feeling of saftey is an important factor in bicycle planning since up to half the population limit their cycling because of fear rather than not wanting or being unable to cycle. Since women in studies feel more unsafe than men in traffic, efforts to increase the feeling of saftey, like the cykelöverfart, could be viewed as gender equal traffic planning, or if you want to, feminist traffic planning. Good bicycle infrastructure allows for quick, safe and pleasant trips rather than having to motivate cycling with health or environmental reasons. High grade bicycle infrastructure is characterized by flow on wide smooth roads with few obstacles, well separated from pedestrians on cars, which also protects pedestrians. Wide smooth paths are also easier for operation and maintenance where a more complex configuration complicates for example enough clearing of snow. The cykelöverfart speed bumps makes the cycle track smoother and increase water run-off even when not in interaction with traffic. Pedestrians and cyclists should be separated for both sake, but conflicts can be generated in unclear situations, where combined walking and cycling tracks leads to segregated walking and biking crossings. Alternative configurations should be considered where either the walking and cycling path is also segregated, or that the need for a zebra crossing in low traffic environment are necessary, which in place can be only a cykelöverfart that is made to work for the sight impaired too. For an increased bicycle traffic, bicycle infrastructure is some what of a hygiene factor, if you want to reach higher level of cycling the need to consider the entire trip rises, as well as parking, dressing rooms and economic incentives, and also that car traffic is slowed, have less roads and less or more expensive parking opportunities. The number of bicycle – car interactions are dependent on the flow of traffic in both directions and will be concentrated to a few places and times in a city, places that can be prioritized in the work of bicycle planning, at the same time as the need to increase traffic safety where fewer interactions occur, along cycling routes and close to schools.