PROBLEMS IN INTEGRATING BICYCLE TRAVEL INTO THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS

With bicycle sales increasing rapidly and with attitudes that regard the bicycle as a toy declining, bicycle travel must be integrated into the urban transportation planning process. The bicycle is being recognized more and more as a viable means of urban transportation, but rational planning for the bicycle requires detailed information concerning the nature of intraurban bicycle travel, information that currently does not exist for U.S. cities. This paper uses detailed travel data gathered recently in Sweden to demonstrate that bicycle travel closely resembles motor vehicle travel. The data show that, when bicycle ownerhship is high and when planners treat the bicycle as a viable means of transportation, the bike is used extensively in daily travel for a variety of trip purposes. In planning for bicycle facilities in U.S. cities, transportation planners must recognize that viewing the bicycle primarily as a recreational vehicle will not meet the needs of most cyclists. The bicycle must be integrated into the urban transportation planning process like any other urban transportation mode. /Author/