A Methodology to Quantify Discontinuities in a Cycling Network – Case Study in Montréal Boroughs

Many studies have investigated the cause of the low mode share for active modes of transportation, walking and cycling, in North America. Since the primary purpose of any transportation network is to provide connectivity between the origin and travel destination, studies have considered the discontinuities in the cycling facility as a major reason for lower cycling mode shares. Network connectivity decreases travel distances and provides a set of possible routes that are easily accessible for all road users. On the other hand, discontinuities correspond to points in the network were the cycling network is not connected and a cyclist may have to reconsider his/her route and will be more exposed to motorized traffic. This paper proposes a methodology to identify and quantify discontinuity within a cycling network using geospatial data and a geographic information system. This study identified two types of indicators, A) internal cycling network discontinuity indicators: the number of ends of bike facilities, the changes in bike facility type, and B) discontinuity indicators with respect to the road network: the number of intersections on bike facilities, the variations in the number of lanes, road type, motorized traffic volume along bike facilities and the number of bus stops on bike facilities. The dataset and step-by-step process of quantifying these discontinuity measures are presented and applied to three boroughs in the island of Montréal for comparison.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF20 Standing Committee on Bicycle Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Niaki, Matin S Nabavi
  • Saunier, Nicolas
  • Miranda-Moreno, Luis F
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 21p
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycle facilities; Bicycling; Case studies; Connectivity; Geographic information systems; Intersections; Methodology; Modal split; Routes; Traffic volume
• Candidate Terms: Geospatial analysis
• Geographic Terms: Montreal (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01594075
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-5821
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 21 2016 4:40PM