A New Approach in the GIS Bikeshed Analysis with Consideration of Topography, Street Connectivity, and Energy Consumption

In recent years, bike planning has garnered attention from planners and the public as a sustainable mode of transportation and as a means to exercise and reduce health risks. In addition, following the success of bike-share programs in cities in Paris and Lyon, France, and Montreal, Canada, and several US cities initiated similar programs. With this background, GISs have been applied to conduct a spatial analysis and produce heat maps of bike-travel demand and suitable areas for a bike-sharing program. These studies include a variety of factors, such as demographics of residents, land use, street types, and available bike facilities and transit services. However, there have been few studies that take topography and street connectivity into account. The study proposes a method to combine topography and presence of intersections with estimates of energy used to bike, and incorporate the resulting travel-impedance factor, as well as street connectivity, into a GIS analysis. Using the case in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, where elevation and street connectivity varies substantially among neighborhoods, this study shows how the size and shape of bikesheds originating from proposed light rail stations vary in the GIS analysis with or without taking into account these critical factors. The analysis results have significant implications for various bike planning programs using a GIS analysis. 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, bike planning has garnered attention from the public as a sustainable mode of transportation and as a means to exercise and reduce health risks. Cycling has been increasingly recognized as an important component of both public health recommendations and active transport policy. Reducing vehicle traveling and increasing trips and distances travelled by walking and cycling could lead to important health benefits through increasing physical activity and thereby reducing the associated burden of chronic non-infectious disease (Frasher and Lock 2010) and through reduction of urban air pollution. Following the success of bike-share program in Paris and Lyon, France, and Montreal, Canada, several US cities, such as Washington DC, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Irvine, California, initiated a similar program. With this background, GISs have been applied to conduct a spatial analysis and produce heat maps of bike-travel demand and identify suitable areas for bike-sharing programs. Such studies include a variety of factors to examine, such as demographics of residents, land use, street types, and available bike facilities and transit services. An analysis in transportation planning often assumes that people want to minimize the generalized costs …