PLANNING FOR BICYCLES

2013

Ayaz Zamanov, İrem Bahçelioğlu

CRP 454 Urban Transport

Systems: Planning and Design

5/30/2013

PLANNING FOR BICYCLES

A.Zamanov,İ.Bahçelioğlu

Page | 1 CRP 454 Urban Transport Systems: Planning and Design

CRP 454 Urban Transport Systems:

Planning For Bicycles

Ayaz Zamanov, İrem Bahçelioğlu

City and Regional Planning, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

ABSTRACT

This article is mainly focused on urban transport systems and especially its’ planning

for bicycles. In introduction part, the general concept of the term ‘bicycle’ and its

advantages are discussed. After that, planning and design principles of the bicycles for

the urban life are given. Bicycle lanes, bike ways, junctions and their examples are

given as the components of the bicycle systems in cities. Although we are planners,

there are some engineering principles of such systems, too. Because of such

engineering conditions, numeric data are also given for the design of the bicycle

systems. On the other hand, there are parking areas and bicycle signs included in bicycle

systems which are used during and also after the usage of the bicycles. In conclusion,

we are tried to give some examples to clarify all that we discussed in this article such as

Amsterdam, Paris, Konya and METU/Ankara. (All units should be converted to the

meters, 1 inch = 1.5 meters)

1. INTRODUCTION

Bicycle is a vehicle consisting of two wheels held in a frame one behind the other,

propelled by pedals and steered with handlebars attached to the front wheel. Bicycle is

an environmently friendly transportation type considering all others. Apart from that, it

is a solution for the planners in such circumstances. For example; dense urban

proximities, short distances and flat terrain are mostly advantages for implementing



bicycle systems. To give some advantages of using bicycles in urban, firstly we should

take in to consideration the scale factor. Bicycles are helping us to reduce pollution,

ease traffic congestion and it offers

cheap infrastructure in such cases

comparing to the other transportation

types. These advantages can be

categorized in urban scale. In human

scale, however, bicycles promote better

fitness and health. It is mostly chosen

because of its efficiency and it saves

money in case. Also, it has better mobility than the private cars, motorcycles, buses or

any other transportation type.

A research made by a website which is called 2kr2 is analyzed the top 15 cities

according to the usage of bicycle in the world. As a result, most countries are

contributed this research from Europe. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen,

Paris, Boulder, Chicago, Davis, Ottawa, Portland, San Francisco, Beijing, Cape Town,

Bogota and Perth are the top 15 countries which mostly use bicycle transportation in the

world. (www.2kr2.com/bisiklet-dostu-dunyanin-15-kenti.html)

Bicycles are generally use special paths. These paths are called as bikeways. First

known use of bikeway was designed in 1894. First separated bike lane is built in New

York. In general, paving of these roads are consist of asphalt, concrete, rubber or stone.

Their management is given to the municipality (such as

infrastructure and maintenance). Sometimes they are fully

separated, but they also have a shared access with the other roads.

To prevent cyclists from any accidents, bikeways are painted in

different colors such as blue (in Turkey), green or grey or orange

(in USA and Europe).



2. PLANNING AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES

i. Bikeway

Bikeway is a facility that is provided primarily for bicycle travel. There are 3

types of bikeways;

Bike Path: A completely separated paved right-of-way (shared with

pedestrians) which excludes general motor vehicle traffic.

Bike Lane: A striped lane for one-way bike travel on a roadway.

Bike Route: Provides for shared use with pedestrians or motor vehicle

traffic.



Bike lanes are defined as "a portion of the roadway which has been designated by

striping, signing and pavement marking for the preferential or exclusive use by

bicyclists". Bicycle lanes make the movements of both motorists and bicyclists more

predictable and as with other bicycle facilities there are advantages to all road users in

striping them on the roadway. There are 6 types of bicycle lanes;

Copenhagen Style Bicycle Lane: Cars are not permitted to enter these at

any time.

Exclusive Bike & Parking Lane: In this type, parking is not an issue, as it’s

provided for separately. The bike lane is always exclusive.



Exclusive Bike Lane: For this style of lane the road typically is just too

narrow to allow car parking on both sides. Outside clearway times cars can

legally park over the bike lane.

Shared Parking & Bicycle Lane: It is similar to an Exclusive Bike Lane

but you can park on it at any time. Most of the time the road will be

sparsely parked leaving a fairly continuous wide lane for the cyclist.

Overall Bicycle Facility Width (m)

Road Speed (km/h) 60 80

Desirable Width (on new roads) 4.0 4.5

Acceptable Range

(when retrofitting to roads)

3.7-4.5 4.0-4.7


Road Speed (km/h) 60 80 100

Desirable Width (on new roads) 1.5 2.0 2.5

Acceptable Range


1.2-2.5 1.8-2.7 2.0-3.0



Wide Kerbside Lane: It indicates that you may see bikes along this route

and in fact the road is wide enough to accommodate bikes and cars side by

side and means nothing else.

Off Road/Shared Path: It is used while mountain biking, park roads etc.

Bicycles are human powered vehicles which needs special measurements to take

in to consideration. Except mountain biking and other sportive activities, all bike routes

have certain grades with certain maximum length of the lane, curve radii elevation and

stopping distances. You can find these numeric data above.

Grade Table


Road Speed (km/h) 60 80

Desirable Width (on new roads) 4.2 4.5

Acceptable Range


3.7-4.5 4.3-5.0

Local Access

Path

Commuter

Path

Recreation

Path

Desirable

Width 2.5 3.0 3.5

Acceptable

Range 2.0-2.5 2.0-3.5 3.0-4.0

Grade % Max. Lane Length (m)

5-6 240

7 120

8 90

9 60

10 30

11+ 15



Curve Radii & Super elevation

Design

Speed

(km/h)

Minimum Radius (m)

2% Superelevation 3% Superelevation 4% Superelevation 5% Superelevation

40 47 45 43 41

50 86 82 79 76

Stopping Distance

Design

Speed

(km/h)

Stopping distance (m)

0% Grade 5% Grade 10% Grade 15% Grade 20% Grade

40 53 60 70 91 155

50 75 85 100 134 233

ii. Junctions

Junctions are the most problematic

areas for the cyclists and pedestrians to pass

over. Dutch engineers and planners have a

new design advice for the junctions. They put

the cyclists on the right turning lane. The

problem is the extremely bad angle of

crossing. Driver have to look to his right

shoulder to see is there any bicycle or not. For

this reason, Dutch stop building lane like they

used to. They keep cyclist to right of the

motorized traffic and deal with the crossing on the junction itself. To make it possible in

safe way, they created an extra curb to connect the cycle lanes on both streets. It has the

same radius as the existing curb and car should turn the cycle path anyway. When we

open certain areas for cyclist on the right way turn, we can see that we created a cycle

path on the junction itself without needing more space.



iii. Parking Areas

Bicycling need rest in certain areas in certain distances. Apart from the rest areas,

on the destination point of the cyclist, there must be a place to park their bicycles. There

are 3 different purposes for parking the bicycles;

Transfer: It is generally build near to the bus stop, rail station, and service

route. It is designed for long time parking. It must be aesthetic and safe.

Also, it should be high capacity to carry more bicycles than expected

because we cannot know the specific number of bicycles coming to a

certain point for the transfer purposes.



Working: It is generally placed near or in to the working area. It is also

designed for long time parking and high capacity.

Other: In this category, we can include the shopping, leisure and social

purpose travels. As long as they are categorized in commercial purpose,

we can say that they should be near to the central area. Since they are

designed for shopping, short time parking is needed. This type of parking

doesn’t need that much capacity.

iv. Bicycle Signs

Signs are used in each type of transportation mode because transportation is

handled by many different individuals and the only way to organize them is to put

certain signs. Wherever you travel in the world, and whatever mode of travel you

choose, you are guided by and are expected to be ruled by a common set of roadway

signs and pavement markings. STOP signs all look alike and are the same color. Lane



markings follow a consistent pattern. Traffic signals operate in the

same way. Some signs are regulatory or mandatory, while others are

advisory or are informative. Certain signs warn you of conditions

that may affect your journey. Each type of sign or marking has a

common shape and color depending on its function. All of this helps

to ensure that traffic flows safely and efficiently.

v. Integration Bicycle With Other Transportation Modes

Interchange points are very important for bicycles because sometimes it is more

efficient to change transportation mode rather than riding directly to the destination. The

crucial question is how to create such places in a good manner for cyclists. Bicycling

integrates well with public transit (bus,

train, ferry, and air transport). Transit is

most effective for moderate- and long-

distance trips on busy corridors, while

cycling is effective for shorter-distance

trips with multiple stops. Combining transit

and cycling can provide a high level of

mobility comparable to automobile travel.



Transit vehicles can carry bicycles, with bike racks mounted on buses or by

carrying bicycles in vehicles (often only during off-peak periods). This allows a bicycle

to be used at both ends of the journey, and helps cyclists who experience a mechanical

failure, unexpected bad weather, or sudden illness. It also allows cyclists to pass major

barriers, such as tunnels or bridges, where cycling is prohibited or particularly difficult.

In addition, exchange points such as park-and-ride is much expensive than an exchange

point which is used only by bicycles. The table above shows the land requirements and

costs both for park-and-ride and bike-and-ride systems.

3. EXAMPLES

i. Amsterdam/Netherlands

Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in the world. In

Amsterdam over %60 of trips are made by bike in the inner city and %38 of trips are

made by bike overall in the greater city area. The city is one of the most important

centers of bicycle culture worldwide with world-class facilities for cyclists such as bike

paths and bike racks, and several guarded bike storage garages (Fietsenstalling) which

can be used for a nominal fee. In 2006, there were about 1.000.000 bicycles in

Amsterdam.

Bicycles are used by all socio-

economic groups because of their

convenience, Amsterdam's small size,

the 400 km of bike paths, the flat

terrain, and the arguable

inconvenience of driving an

automobile. Each bike path (Fietspad)

is colored brown, in order to

differentiate it from a footpath.

Characteristic Park-and-Ride Bike-and-Ride

Land requirements (m2) 30 1-2

Installation cost per space $10,000 - $12,000 $140 - $800

Operating cost per space (year) $110 $0 - $30



In Amsterdam, %59 of the whole city uses bicycle as for transportation and %27

of all trips are also made by bicycles in nationwide. There are many cycle-paths and

segregated cycle facilities. The shortest distance from one station to another is

approximately 2.5km, and the longest is 5-7.5km.

Dutch planners studied this issue in a complete manner because they linked the

cycle paths, or let’s say bicycle system, with the public transport system which gives an

opportunity for easy travelling and access to the whole city. In addition to this, Woonerf

streets (living streets) are also making this city more pedestrianized. We can expect that,

with these rates of pedestrianized roads and cycling paths, children should have some

access to their schools with more non-motorized transportation type. Children (10-16

ages) use bicycle to reach their destination. Secondary school children cycle over 15 km

in each direction. %49 of all transport to school occurs by bicycle in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam has rental bike services and stations in the whole

city. It is very easy to get used to biking because they have make it

very simple to use. If you have a credit card or did create an

account for yourself in the web, you can easily transfer money to

the system and rent a bike. Rental daily rate is 9.50€ – 13.50€ for

24 hours.



(Map of bicycle routes in Amsterdam)

ii. Paris/France

Paris has steadily increased its network of bicycle paths since the late 1990s. As of

2010 there were 440 km of cycling routes in Paris, including bike paths and bus lanes

that had been widened for use by bike riders. Following the successful examples of

bicycle hire schemes in the French cities of Rennes and Lyon the city of Paris launched

a system of rental bikes free service called Vélib'

on the 15th of July 2007. Managed by the

company JCDecaux there were originally 10,648

bikes available at 750 Vélib' stations. More than

20,600 bikes at 1,451 stations are planned for late

2007 and Paris may eventually have 50,000 Vélib'

bikes for hire. Vélib's main aim is to replace car

use in Paris for short trips.

Vélib started this system with this motto; ‘take a bike, return it where you like’.

Vélib’ is a self-service bike system available 24 hours a day, all year round. To access

the service, the person should buy a 1-day (1.70€) or a 7-day (8.00€) ticket online or at

any Vélib’ station or sign-up for a long-term subscription.



Map of Bicycle Routes in Paris

iii. Konya/Turkey

Konya is one of the cities in Turkey which has bicycle system integrated in the

city. %3.4 of all transport occurs by bicycle in the city. It is favorable for around 10 km

distance for the citizens. Government has planned 460 km of bike route, but only 60 km

is completed. In this plan, 13 different regions integrated with this bicycle system.

It works with a card system

which is called ‘ELKART’. Bikers

should register themselves in the

system from internet or it is possible

to register directly in the stations.

There is a penalty for any damage or

stealing which is worth of 300 TL. A

company called Nextbike is the

sponsor and they have all the

responsibilities about this system. They put these prices for the customers;



1 TL for a hour (Once in a

day free for first 30 min)

15 TL for 24 hours

60 TL for 7 days

180 TL for 30 days

(Map of bicycle routes in Konya)

iv. METU/Turkey

Middle East Technical

University is planning to integrate

bicycle system in the campus. METU

has high rates of bicycle ridership.

For now, only problem is the

governmental issues which make this

plan difficult to implement. Planners

have put specific features to create

such bicycle paths. For example the minimum width of bicycle lane should be 2.8 m.

They also thought about the hierarchy of different types of transportation such as;

motorized road will be on the highest priority in the system, then comes bicycle lane

and after that pedestrian are the last one. Minimum of 50cm should be between road and

bicycle lane and bicycle lanes should be 3m for two way of cycling.



Environment also has taken into consideration

while designing this system. They put some

limitations for the ground materials that are going to

be used for the bicycle lanes. Some examples are

shown above.

(Material limitations for the bicycle lanes)

(Map of bicycle routes in METU)



4. REFERENCES

(2011). 2010 Bicycle Plan.

Çevre ve Şehircilik Bakanlığı, (2012). Bisiklet Yolu Kılavuzu.

Bicycle Design Guidelines/Best Practices Manual.

(2006). Bikeway Planning and Design. Highway Design Manual. içinde

Design Standards for Bicycle Faciities. (2002). Cycle Notes .

Mert, K., & Öcalır, E. (2010). Konya'da Bisiklet Ulaşımı:Planlama ve Uygulama

Süreçlerinin Karşılaştırılması.

National Association of City Transportation Officials. http://nacto.org/cities-for-

cycling/design-guide/ adresinden alınmıştır

Pedesrian and Bicycle Information Center.

http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/ adresinden alınmıştır

http://www.nextbike.com.tr/tr/konya/ adresinden alınmıştır

Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities in California. (2005).

http://www.fietsberaad.nl/index.cfm?lang=en&section=Voorbeeldenbank

http://boroondarabug.org/wiki/Types_of_Bike_Lanes

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