Investigating tools for evaluating service and improvement opportunities on bicycle routes in Ohio, United States

Abstract

Over the past two decades, transportation engineers and urban planners have become increasingly interested in using performance measures to capture roadway infrastructure effects on bicyclists' comfort levels. In this study, a tool is developed for evaluating Ohio's local roads and identifying opportunities for improvement. This begins by assessing the available data sources required to develop a customized model for Ohio, United States. Stakeholder interviews and data assessment outcomes indicate that most local jurisdictions do not have access to all relevant data for a complete bicycle level of traffic stress (LTS) analysis. Therefore, we extend the original bicycle LTS framework by formulating effective methods to deal with missing data. The designed methods are based on Ohio's functional classification system, and existing data on speed limits, traffic volumes, and bicycle facility widths. Our approach enables agencies to conduct bicycle LTS analysis when critical data elements are missing (such as posted speed limits, traffic volumes, and bicycle facility widths). For example, compared to the assignments with completed Mid-Ohio region data, the proposed approach reaches a 90% match in bicycle LTS score assignments in urban areas when road traffic volumes are missing. Local communities in Ohio and beyond can adopt the proposed approach to achieve interim and temporary results when collecting accurate data is not feasible due to time and cost considerations.