Wherever you go, there they are? Bicycle parking in Chapel Hill, NC

Municipalities continue to promote the economic, environmental, and health benefits of bicycling. Consistent with this objective, municipalities have increased efforts to install and improve bicycle parking facilities. However, there is limited research examining how usage of these facilities interacts with infrastructure, land use, and the built environment. This research begins to fill this gap through an examination of the association between bicycle rack design, land use, and built environment characteristics on bicycle rack usage. A complete inventory and existing conditions report of all bicycle racks and cumulative bicycle parking spaces located within the corporate limits of the Town of Chapel Hill, NC was undertaken. A total of n=716 bicycle racks were inventoried and assessed based on usage of each facility during a work week midday period of 12:30pm-1:30pm. A zero-inflated negative binomial regression model was developed to examine associations between bicycle rack usage and bicycle rack design, land use, and built environment characteristics. Results find that type of rack, condition of the rack, accessibility, population density, employment density, street connectivity, distance to UNC, and distance to the nearest bicycle lane or path serve as significant predictors of bicycle rack usage. Looking across the results, built environment factors are found to serve as the strongest predictors of bicycle rack usage. These results add to the existing research literature by identifying determinants that significantly predict usage of bicycle parking facilities. Accordingly, these results will aid transportation decision-makers with additional insight and considerations behind the siting of new bicycle parking facilities. Future research is encouraged to further explore these associations from a qualitative standpoint such as through interviews of bicyclists utilizing various bicycle parking facilities.Master of City and Regional Plannin