Understanding user behaviors and safety concerns on shared use paths in Edmonton, Canada

Shared Use Paths (SUPs) allow individuals with diverse activities, including walkers, cyclists, scooterists, and skateboarders, to coexist. In this context, the behavior of one group can impact the experience of the other. Thus, this study applied an ordered logit model on survey data collected from Edmonton, Canada, to examine the six behaviors exhibited by SUP users. Results indicated that respondents were most concerned about cyclists not ringing the bell, followed by people not watching their dogs and cyclists' speed. Additionally, the model results revealed a clear pattern of concerns between walkers and cyclists. Cyclists were more likely to express concern about pedestrians spreading out and not staying to the right, while pedestrians exhibited similar concerns towards cyclists. Furthermore, older respondents expressed a greater concern regarding cyclists' speed, people passing on the right, cyclists not ringing the bell, and people neglecting their dogs. Income was associated with walkers' behavior of not staying to the right and people's attentiveness to their dogs. Conversely, home ownership, gender, and having children had a relatively minor influence on the users' experience. The practical applications of the findings are discussed for better management and design considerations to address users' concerns.