Trade-off Between Cyclist Safety and Widths of Bicycle and Adjacent Parking Lanes

Rhode Island prestigiously ranked 14th of all states in the percent of transportation spending on bicycles, 1.3%, between 1986 and 1995. Within this period, it also suffered the lowest cyclist fatality rate, 1.1 fatality per million of population. Previous statistics are only diminished by the limited bicycle ridership experienced by the state. Bicycle lanes are increasingly credited with transforming potential cyclists into actual ones, thereby boosting bicycle ridership. At present, the on-roadway bicycle facilities afforded Rhode Islanders mainly consist of shoulder lanes. A targeted program of bicycle lane development can help enhance bicycle ridership in the state. Yet, an understanding of the safety aspects of bicycle lanes is necessary to prevent any detrimental impact to the cyclist safety ranking of the state. The overall safety of bicycle lanes is well documented. Also well documented is the safety of varied bicycle lane designs at intersections. Much less is known of the individual safety impacts of their design features at the mid-link. "Trade-off between Cyclist Safety, Bicycle Lane Selection, and Widths of Bicycle and Adjacent Parking Lanes" aims to positively establish guidelines, if not warrants, for the selection of bicycle lanes over other bikeways based on maximizing highway user safety. The study further aims to establish and quantify the crash reduction potential of wider bicycle and adjacent parking lanes. The knowledge gained can help ensure the deployment of the safest bicycle facilities in Rhode Island consistent with budget.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $75000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  SPR-2282 (278)

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Rhode Island Department of Transportation

  State Office Building, 2 Capitol Hill
  Providence, RI  United States  02903
• Project Managers:

  Franco, Collin

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Rhode Island, Kingston

  College of Engineering
  Kingston, RI  United States  02881
• Principal Investigators:

  Thomas, Natacha

• Start Date: 20031223
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• Source Data: RiP Project 9281

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycle crashes; Bicycle travel; Crashes; Cyclists; Fatalities; Parking; Research projects; Safety; Statistical analysis
• Geographic Terms: Rhode Island
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01458892
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Rhode Island Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: SPR-2282 (278)
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 12:52PM