Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2009. Graduate Programme in Communication and Culture. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-135). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR51508

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Bicycling as a mode of transportation has been increasing in recent years due to its environmental and health benefits. The availability of bicycles through bicycle share programs has made bicycling a more viable option. With this increase, there is a need for complementary improvements of bicycle infrastructure. Many local and regional transportation agencies are recognizing this need and developing a master plan or safety action plan to improve the city’s bicycle and walking facilities. This study examines bicycle travel demands and travel patterns in Lexington, Kentucky as generated by SPIN bicycle share users. It is hypothesized that the SPIN users emulate bicycle users on and around the University of Kentucky campus. Therefore, analyzing their travel patterns will provide a valuable understanding of bicycle demand and infrastructure needs. To identify such demand, travel patterns and routes were compared to the existing bicycle infrastructure in order to determine improvement needs with an ulterior goal to increase bicycling as a mode of transportation. The methods of study include five levels of analysis: length and duration, temporal, climatic, point density, and modeling. Recommendations for improving routes and parking facilities have been developed based on analytical methods and results obtained. The findings support the notion that bicycle infrastructure influences the travel paths cyclists take. The research supports the idea that commuters are using SPIN bicycles to chain their trips with transit and completing the last or first section of the trip with a bicycle. It was found that bicycle travel demand fluctuates with weather patterns. Furthermore, future work could use the existing data and conduct a detailed analysis on the individual trip level to determine what percentage of a completed trip was taken on an existing bicycle facility or on a non-facility. These findings should aid transportation planning and city officials to make decisions for expanding the existing bicycle network in efforts to minimize the percentage of cyclists who take a detour and the length of detours when necessary.

The biplanar bicycle is an experimental vehicle configuration that has been the focus of recent autonomous vehicle research at Virginia Tech. Although the vehicle can be advantageous due to its zero-radius turning and ability to traverse discontinuous terrain, one key disadvantage of the configuration is that it lacks a stable reference frame from which observations of the surroundings can be based. A solution to this problem is presented here in the form of actuators designed to actively control the oscillations of a reference frame. The orientation of a camera attached to a mast extended above the vehicle is specifically considered. Autonomous operation of the vehicle could utilize image processing to navigate, but the camera must maintain a fixed orientation for the data to be valid. The work presented examines not only the regulation of the reference frame, but also the effects of such regulation on the velocity response of the vehicle. Practical considerations such as sensors, actuators, cost, and complexity are addressed. Although this work is centered around the biplanar bicycle, similar approaches can be extended to orientation of an arbitrary body in space. / Master of Science

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There were two primary goals in this investigation. The first goal was to determine if results from field tests (time-trials and a Conconi incremental test) are related to performance in mass-start long-distance bicycle races. The second goal was to investigate inter-relationships among field test variables. The testing variables measured were critical velocity (CV), Conconi anaerobic threshold (AT) velocity, 4mM AT velocity, fatigue index, peak blood lactate, and anaerobic work capacity. Participants were USCF 30 category 1 through 5 cyclists. Participants performed one 20.75 km and two 10.37 km all-out tests in the field. They also performed an incremental test. The tests were performed at one-week intervals. Results from the field tests were compared to recent mass-start racing performance. Results indicated that Conconi AT velocity was related to performance in a 161-km race. There was also a relationship between 4mM AT velocity and CV and between Conconi AT velocity and 4mM AT velocity. It was concluded that field tests might provide information about performance ability in mass-start long-distance bicycle races.

This thesis focuses on bicyclists using the Jefferson Davis multi-use, off-street trail in the City of New Orleans. Understanding user characteristics and perceptions of bicyclists will help inform planning, policy, and design related to bicycle infrastructure. This thesis uses a review of the relevant literature, intercept surveys of bicyclists, and automatic bicycle counts to understand how user characteristics can influence successful bicycle design, policies, and planning. The user characteristics of the bicyclists on the Jefferson Davis Trail provide us with information on who is using the trail, how often, why, and what users would like to see improved. Planners need to understand the motivations of the current and potential trail users. Making bicycling a safe mode of travel in an urban area involves influencing citizens at both the socialecological level and the travel-behavioral level, providing the culture around bicycling and the facilities available to do so.

A Master’s research project submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in GIS and Remote Sensing. Johannesburg, 2017. / Recent initiatives by the city of Johannesburg to increase non-motorised transport through the installation of bicycle infrastructure were conducted without consulting the cycling preferences of the public. This study distributed a cycling preference survey, achieving fair reliability using the weighted Kappa statistic, in which potential users indicated the most important spatial factors for ideal cycling routes through Likert-scale answers. Importance rankings derived by Likert sums were combined with variability-explaining rankings derived by modified principal component analysis using polychoric correlation coefficients to produce a final list of retained spatial variables. These variables were quantified using secondary spatial data sets which were dichotomized into Boolean operators for network attributes in ArcGIS Network Analyst. The solved routes using the spatial factors derived by survey respondents were significantly different from the simple shortest-path routes between pre-defined origin and destination nodes. Shortcomings in the directness of the solved routes qualify their use as an initial step for non-motorised transport planning rather than a strict, unmodifiable route for bicycle lanes. Further experimentation with higher quality spatial data, custom routing algorithms, and a larger survey population may yield improved results in the future. The incorporation of local cyclists and future cyclists are a key factor in bicycle route design that should be included in non-motorised transport planning. / LG2018

One of the top bicycling cities in the United States, Portland, Oregon has used a mixture of bicycle infrastructure to create a cohesive network for bicyclists. Building on their success, in 2010 Portland set forth on an ambitious path to envision their bicycle network in 2030. The primary goal of this plan is to attract the “Interested but Concerned” demographic of bicyclists through an increase of their bicycle boulevard network from 30 miles to 286 miles. However, there has been no direct link between bicycle boulevards and bicycle rates. Therefore, this study analyzes the influence of bicycle boulevards on bicycle-to-work rates using U.S. Census data with Geographic Information Systems data in concert with both ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and a fixed effects (FE) regression. The OLS and FE models both indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship between bicycle boulevards and bicycle-to-work rates.

Roughly 50,000 people are injured in bicycle collisions with motor vehicles each year. The Hank Bicycle Simulator provides a virtual environment to study and reduce this tragic loss by safely investigating the interaction of bicycle riders and traffic, particularly for bicyclists crossing streets. The bicycle simulator design focuses on the bicycle and rider inertia, the predominant dynamic element for riders moving from a stopped position. The Hank Bicycle Simulator’s flywheel provides instantaneous inertial response while a servomotor provides simulated wind resistance to pedaling. This work describes the simulator design and a validation experiment that compares the simulator performance to theoretical predictions. The Hank Bicycle Simulator achieved initial acceleration with less than 0.20% error at realistic rider weights. The observed terminal velocity achieved less than 3.75%, with smaller errors for heavier riders. This allows the rider to cross a street with about a 60 ms time difference between the simulator and a real-life rider pedaling at a constant propulsive force. The Hank Bicycle Simulator was also validated through various physical experiments measuring the system inertia, the time delay of the electrical components, and the overall system performance. Such careful system validation for a mechanical feedback system is relatively rare in simulation research and is unique among previous reports of bicycle simulators.