Health Benefits of Bicycle Facilities

The Florida State Legislature mandated the Florida Department of Transportation perform the Conserve by Bicycle Program Study. In response to the growing alarm in response to the rising trend of obesity, the Florida Legislature took a proactive step by including as a key goal of the program study determining the health benefits that can be realized if more and safer bicycle facilities are built. The health benefits depend significantly on recreational bicycling that is induced as a result of constructing bicycle facilities. This paper documents the development of a model to forecast the potential induced recreational travel and the translation of the results into increased societal health benefits. The model incorporates demographic and user data from seventeen corridors with varying types of bicycle facilities: shared use lanes, bicycle lanes, shared use paths adjacent to the roadway, and independent alignments (i.e. pathways in independent right-of-ways). Numerous potential influencing factors were evaluated for their correlation with the induced recreational demand associated with bicycle facilities. Through Pearson correlations and extensive regression modeling, the following variables were found to provide for sound models for induced recreational demand: facility length, bicycle level of service, aesthetics, points of interest, and population of the surrounding area. This model provides reasonable predictions for the levels of recreational bicycling induced by the construction of bicycle facilities, which is then translated into health benefits.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Petritsch, Theodore Anton
  • Landis, Bruce W
  • Huang, Herman F
  • Fellerhoff, Christopher Bunker
  • Scott, Dennis
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2008-1-13 to 2008-1-17
• Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: DVD
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 29p
• Monograph Title: TRB 87th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycle facilities; Bicycle travel; Bicycling; Bikeways; Health; Level of service; Nonmotorized transportation; Obesity
• Uncontrolled Terms: Health benefits
• Geographic Terms: Florida
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Public Transportation; Society; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01088376
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 08-1230
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 25 2008 2:32PM