Evaluation of a suburban, campus-based bike arrival station

End of trip facilities can be a barrier which limits the potential of the bicycle as a commuter transport mode. In recent years there has been increasing interest in development of large cycle centers or bicycle arrival stations which provide secure bicycle storage, changing rooms, showers, lockers and repair facilities. These facilities are often provided in, or near to, the Central Business District (CBD) and typically operate on a user-pays basis. This paper reports the results of an evaluation of a bicycle arrival station built on suburban university campus about 20 km from the CBD in Melbourne, Australia. Use of this un-staffed facility, which provides secure parking for 100 bicycles, is offered free of charge to staff and students. Following the opening of the facility in late 2010, an evaluation was undertaken in 2011 to gauge user satisfaction with the facility and assess its impact on travel behaviour. Results from an on-line questionnaire of registered users, and ID card entry data, are used in the analysis reported in the paper. While users where generally satisfied with many features of the facility, concerns emerged over the adequacy of the towel drying facilities, the availability of lockers and the management of the locker facilities. Nearly 50% of the users indicated that they had switched from commuting by car to the bicycle as a result of access to the facility. As a result of the high mode switch from private vehicles, the estimated reduction in annual motor vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT), at nearly 86,000 km, is larger than that reported for a larger CBD based facility located in another Australian capital city. These encouraging results suggest that provision of adequate end of trip facilities can stimulate bicycle commuting in suburban activity centers as well as in the CBD.