Bicycle parking allocation and its equity implications: The case of Bogota, Colombia

Abstract

Bicycles are a sustainable alternative for urban mobility; however, their usage depends mainly on safety, convenience, and infrastructure availability, which have been widely studied. However, most studies have overlooked the importance of bicycle parking facilities in the network-planning process. In this work we aim to draw attention to the importance of including bicycle parking (BP) facilities in a well-thought-out bicycle infrastructure planning process highlighting the detrimental effects of not doing so for transportation equity, using Bogotá, Colombia, as a case study, where bicycle trips have multiplied in the last few years, reaching a 6.6 % modal share in 2019. To this end, we present a geospatial analysis and machine learning approach to assess the network coverage of bicycle parking spots. Additionally, we compared the city's bicycle trip patterns and applied a survey to know the perception of users (n = 397). The results show that the current distribution of bicycle parking in the city does not favour equity, given that it is not in line with the origin and destination of bicycle trips. This could widen socio-territorial inequity by affecting accessibility to bicycle use for daily commutes. To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first assessment of the impact of parking distribution on the planning of bicycle infrastructure in the Global South.