Analyzing the accessibility to safe and connected biking infrastructure facilities: an equity perspective.

"Having designated cycling facilities is crucial to the safety of cyclists, and together with desirable connectivity, it is deterministic to encourage more multimode active mobility. However, this zero-emission, healthy, cost-saving, and community- engaging mobility option is not equally accessible to communities with different socioeconomic status. Built upon existing studies which make primitive attempts on exploring the geographic distribution of the length of bike lanes, this study aims at exploring how socioeconomic factors explain the variability of the quantity of facilities, the quality of facilities, and the connectivity of facilities across different neighborhoods. This project will use the City of Lincoln as a living lab and perform data-driven analysis based on asset inventory data, field data, and census data. The field data will be creatively collected using a data collection system developed by the researchers before. The study is expected to generate evidence-based policy suggestions, which are planned to be discussed with stakeholders for consensus-backed executable items in technology transfer activities. This project timely responds to the ongoing Lincoln Bike Plan by the City of Lincoln and the County of Lancaster and is well aligned with USDOT’s strategic goals and MATC’s missions, such as “equitable mobility for all” and “net zero emissions”, to name a few."

Having designated cycling facilities is crucial to the safety of cyclists, and together with desirable connectivity, it is deterministic to encourage more multimode active mobility. However, this zero-emission, healthy, cost-saving, and community-engaging mobility option is not equally accessible to communities with different socioeconomic status. Built upon existing studies which make primitive attempts on exploring the geographic distribution of the length of bike lanes, this study aims at exploring how socioeconomic factors explain the variability of indices indicating the number of facilities, asset conditions, supporting traffic elements, and road system connectivity. This project will use the City of Lincoln as a living lab and perform data-driven analysis based on asset inventory data, field data, and census data. The field data will be creatively collected using a data collection system developed by the researchers before. The study is expected to generate evidence-based policy suggestions, which are planned to be discussed with stakeholders for consensus-backed executable items in technology transfer activities. This project timely responds to the ongoing Lincoln Bike Plan by the City of Lincoln and the County of Lancaster and is well aligned with USDOT’s strategic goals and MATC’s missions, such as “equitable mobility for all” and “net zero emissions”, to name a few.

This proposed project can contribute to five of the six USDOT strategic goals. Appropriate biking infrastructure, such as separate lanes, colorized lanes, lighting, biking-friendly signals, signs, and intersections, play deterministic roles in enhancing cyclist’s safety (Sanders et al. 2020) but are not evenly distributed among communities with various demographics. This proposed project, as an evidence-based study narrowing the gap, directly serves the strategic goals of safety and equity. Today’s vehicle-centric transportation systems and commute modes were shaped during the Post-World-War-II and now face grand challenges of excessive greenhouse gas emissions and worsening traffic congestion. Looking into the future, investing in research on safe and equitable biking facilities will encourage more active mobility, reduce transportation-related pollution, and shape next-generation transportation systems, which responds to the strategic goals of transformation as well as climate and sustainability. Studies also show that investment in biking infrastructure brings opportunities to local businesses (Daniele et al. 2022), which corresponds to the strategic goal of economic strength and global competitiveness.

Separate, well-functioning, and connected biking facilities can significantly improve cyclist’s safety but to what extent that they are equally accessible to people at different socioeconomic status has not been explored. This proposed project’s evidence-based findings, consensus-backed policy suggestions, and transferable methodology have good potential to benefit low-income cyclists and people of color cyclists in Region VII with enhanced safety and connectivity. The transportation system in Region VII can get decision support for decarbonization, equity-integrated planning, and community-based economic development.