Tools and Strategies for Wide-Scale Bicycle Level-of-Service Analysis

This paper introduces new tools and strategies to assess the perceived comfort and safety of bicycle travel across a large geographic area. The tools are based on the equation for bicycle level-of-service in a U.S. government manual. The equation requires substantial data that can be time-intensive and expensive to collect for a wide-scale area. For this reason, the paper begins by discussing data-availability issues with a survey that was sent to every city and county in Idaho. Of the 115 responses, no community had all the necessary data and many had very little data. Next, the paper describes a sensitivity analysis that engineers and planners can follow to identify the critical data that should be collected for their community. The sensitivity analysis is described using two case study communities and reveals, among other things, that input-output sensitivity for bicycle level-of-service depends on roadway functional class. The tools and strategies in this paper will save communities time and money when developing plans or prioritizing projects.