Utilizing Bicycle Compatibility Index and Bicycle Level of Service for Cycleway networks

Bicycle is widely used in Japan by people of all age groups in daily usage, which may significantly ease traffic congestion. Responding to the cyclists increasing, the method to assess the quality of bicycle travel become necessary. Previous studies reported several approaches to obtain evaluation methods. However, cycleway evaluation in Japan is still far behind the evaluation methods developed in Europe or America. This paper concentrated on familiarizing readers with two methods for evaluating the quality of bicycle facilities and then presenting some proposals of cycleway evaluation in Japan referencing to these two methods. The first method, Bicycle Compatibility Index (BCI), is used to evaluate the road environment for cycling according to the road characteristics by statistical analysis. The second method, Bicycle Level of Service (BLOS), also represents an evaluation of safety for bicyclists. Both of the above methods offered equations of comfort and safety perceptions of bicyclists according to cycling environments. By introducing these methods in combination, this paper enables the readers to maximize the comparative advantages of both BCI and BLOS. The comparison includes sensitivity of variables and the development of both methods. Then we applied BCI and BLOS to evaluate the target roadways in Kumamoto, Japan.