An examination of utilitarian bicycle trip route choice preference in San Diego

Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-60)This study was conducted in two phases. The first was an online survey designed to discover community and environmental characteristics of bicyclists' home neighborhoods, their bicycling experiences and preferences, and their socio-economic demographics (N=249). The second phase was meeting with selected participants who responded affirmatively in the online survey to the question asking if they are utilitarian bicyclists and were willing to be outfitted with GPS units to track their chosen routes over a 5 day period (N=64). This GPS data was converted to GIS data and mapped to analyze certain characteristics of the routes. Variables analyzed include bicycle travel characteristics such as travel time, travel distance, average speed, percent of the trip traveled on bicycle facilities, percent of the trip traveled along high and low volume roadways, percent of the trip traveled on high and low speed roadways, and percent of the trip traveled on roadways by number of lanes. Land use-related characteristics of the bicycle trip route were also assessed, including percent of the bicycle trip traveled along parks and open space, high and low density residential, retail, office, and industrial land uses. Key findings of the online survey include that the survey respondents live in neighborhoods with primarily detached single-family houses, with attached condos/ apartments of more than and less than 6 units both following very closely. There is a reported prevalence of sidewalks in neighborhoods, but bicycle facilities, especially separated bicycle paths, are scarce. Neighborhood traffic is the biggest safety concern for bicyclists, followed by bicycle theft. Street trees are the most prevalent aesthetic feature of the reported neighborhoods. Survey respondents report that their neighborhoods are generally pleasant for bicycling. Bicyclists frequently feel that bicycling is faster than driving in rush hour conditions. A majority of survey respondents own a car and have been bicycling for more than five years. Reasons for bicycling include riding for pleasure/enjoyment, for fitness/health, and to protect the environment. Preferred route characteristics include low traffic volumes and speeds, wide bike lanes, and a maintained facility surface. Feeling safe from traffic and the availability of bike parking at trip destinations are at the top of the list of important factors when choosing to make a bicycle trip. Moderate weather is also in the top three important factors, with short travel time/trip distance being equally important. As logically expected, bicyclists prefer to ride on Class I and Class II facilities and prefer not to ride on paved freeway shoulders. The majority of respondents were over 36 years old at the time of the study. There was a prevalence of male bicyclists among survey respondents. The results also point to an educated sample, with over 75 percent of survey respondents having a bachelors degree or higher. A majority of survey respondents were "White or Caucasian", also not representative of the general population. Approximately one-third of survey respondents report household incomes over $100,000 per year, and over half report incomes of over $85,000 per year. The majority of respondents are employed full-time. Key findings from the GPS study include that participants rode an average of 29 minutes per trip, an average of 5.5 miles per trip, and an average of 10.75 mph per trip. A majority of the cyclists' trips were on streets with no facilities, and among bicycle facilities, they rode more often on Class II facilities. Bicyclists chose roads with high volume and very low volume most frequently. In terms of the number of lanes preferred, two-lane roads were used at higher rates than wider roadways. Routes with very low roadway speeds were also preferred over routes with higher roadway speeds. After transportation uses were removed from the equation, the preferred land use adjacent to routes selected by cyclists was designated as parks or open space. In a comparison to the online survey results, responses to the online survey indicate that bicyclists prefer to ride on Class I and Class II facilities and prefer not to ride on unmarked lanes and paved freeway shoulders. However, on average, study bicyclists actually rode on streets with no bicycle facilities more often than on streets with bicycle facilities. This discrepancy points to the need for more bicycle facilities regionally, specifically for Class I and Class II facilities