National Academies Press: OpenBook

Integration of Bicycles and Transit (2005)

Chapter: Chapter Seven - Conclusions

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Page 39
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Seven - Conclusions." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Integration of Bicycles and Transit. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13554.
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Page 39
Page 40
Suggested Citation:"Chapter Seven - Conclusions." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Integration of Bicycles and Transit. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13554.
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Page 40

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40 There has been significant growth in the number of agencies offering bicycle services since the publication of TCRP Syn- thesis of Transit Practice 4 in 1994. In addition, the types of bicycle and transit integration have continued to diversify as transit agencies have pioneered new bicycle services. Fifty-six transit agencies from all parts of North America provided information about bicycle and transit services for this report. These agencies cited the many benefits of offer- ing bicycle-related services. Bicycle services are thought to help to attract more transit riders by extending the catchment area of their transit system and provide greater mobility to customers at the beginning and end of their transit trips. Accommodating bicycles on transit may also allow bicyclists to avoid locations where it is unsafe or uncomfortable to ride. Several agencies believed that their bicycle services help decrease automobile traffic congestion, reduce air pollution (by shifting automobile drivers to transit), and improve the public image of transit. Transit agencies that provided information for this study reported very positive reactions from bicyclists and generally favorable reactions from other transit riders, transit agency staff, and the general public. Some agencies experienced ini- tial resistance to establishing bicycle services, particularly from transit operators. However, the agencies reported that this resistance usually diminished as the services were offered over time. Agencies have also used training, demonstrations, and actual experience to overcome this resistance. Agencies have generally experienced few maintenance problems with their bicycle services. Problems that were reported by transit agencies included obtaining replacement parts for broken bus bike racks, abandoned bicycles on bus racks and at transit stations, vandalized bicycle lockers, bus washers being damaged by the bus bicycle racks, bus bicy- cle racks interfering with windshield wipers, and the need to remove the bus bicycle rack when a bus is towed. Compared with the costs of buses, rail cars, and automo- bile parking facilities, it is inexpensive for transit agencies to purchase bicycle equipment, such as bike racks on buses, bike hooks in rail cars, and bike racks and lockers at transit sta- tions. In addition, most bicycle and transit services do not impose extra costs on individual bicyclists (other than regular fares). Some agencies charge fees for permits or rental leases for secure bicycle locker facilities; however, many agencies have eliminated fees and permitting requirements for using other bicycle services. Bicycle and transit integration is viewed by many agen- cies as a good tool for marketing and promoting good com- munity relations. Many of the transit agencies participating in the survey provided information about their bicycle ser- vices on their websites and through brochures. Several transit agencies reported that they had developed positive relationships with bicycle advocacy groups. These advocacy groups helped raise awareness about bicycle and transit integration programs through e-mail lists, websites, and other activities. A few agencies have developed formal part- nerships with bicycle advocacy groups for managing bicycle parking programs. Several transit agencies have participated in planning efforts with local jurisdictions to ensure that transportation facility construction and land use development facilitate bicy- cle access to transit. Partnerships between transit agencies and local jurisdictions have led to the installation of bicycle lanes, bike routes, shared-use paths, bicycle parking, wayfinding signs, etc., to make it easier for people to bicycle to transit. Although some transit agencies currently record the num- ber of people using bicycle services, few agencies collect data about bicyclists’ trip characteristics or bicycle parking use. In addition, few agencies have established performance measures for their bicycle services. Of the agencies that collected consistent data on the use of bicycle services, most found increases in use over time. Sev- eral agencies reported significant growth in use during the first few years of a new service as information about the ser- vice spread to potential customers. Others found that remov- ing fees and permit requirements or increasing the percent- age of buses with racks also increased usage levels. Bicycle and transit integration is likely to continue to expand as more agencies begin to offer the services described in this synthesis. Information from transit agencies and the TCRP topic panel showed that there are several other areas of potential growth in bicycle and transit integration: • Emerging ways of accommodating bicycles on transit, such as high-capacity bus bicycle racks, bicycle-on- CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUSIONS

41 However, new research is needed to provide concrete evidence of the effect of bicycle services on transit ridership.) • What socioeconomic groups are using bicycle-related transit services? • What are the purposes of bicycle-on-transit trips? A second major research effort is needed to analyze the economics of bicycle and transit integration programs. At a basic level, research is needed to determine whether rev- enue from additional bicycle transit riders is greater than the expense of providing the bicycle services. More in- depth economic analysis could compare the costs of bicy- cle and transit integration programs with a broad range of benefits, such as: • Providing customers with more choices of modes for accessing transit; • Improved public image created by offering bicycle services; • Additional political support from bicycle advocates; and • Other benefits, such as reductions in the number of auto- mobiles on congested roadways, reductions in auto- mobile emissions, improvements in public health owing to increased physical activity of bicycle and transit users, etc. An economic analysis could also be conducted from the perspective of the individual bicycle and transit user. This analysis should consider out-of-pocket costs, travel time dif- ferences, personal physical health benefits and risks, and other tradeoffs between using bicycle-related transit services and other travel modes. Finally, there is a need to understand what types of mar- keting strategies are most effective in increasing the use of bicycle-related transit services. Researchers could determine which elements of bicycle and transit integration are the most attractive to potential customers. This analysis could incor- porate information about the types of people that currently use bicycle services and the most common types of bicycle– transit trips. Current marketing efforts might be evaluated and new techniques examined. The results of this research may enable transit agencies to design more effective marketing strategies in the future. vanpool services, and new methods for storing bicycles on rail cars. • Emerging techniques for storing bicycles at transit hubs, such as high-capacity bike parking at transit stations and full-service staffed bicycle parking. • More on-road bicycle and transit facilities, such as shared bicycle and bus and bicycle and high-occupancy vehicle lanes. • New methods of bicycle and transit education, such as bus bicycle rack demonstrations for bicyclists and share- the-road training for bus drivers. • More coordination with local jurisdictions to provide bicycle access improvements in areas around transit stops and to include bicycle access information on tran- sit maps. • New performance measures for evaluating the effec- tiveness of bicycle services. As a result of this effort, several topics are suggested for future study. Three of these topics are quantifying the amount of patronage and demand for bicycle and transit services, comparing the benefits and costs of these services, and rec- ommending ways to increase the use of bicycle-related tran- sit services through marketing. In addition, more research is needed to quantify the num- ber and types of people that use bicycle-related transit ser- vices. A first step toward obtaining this information is to develop data collection methods to record and survey bicy- cle and transit patrons. Previous counting and survey meth- ods should be reviewed. Although a few agencies have sur- veyed bicycle customers and used new technologies to count bicycle boardings, these methods should be refined and new techniques tested. Once efficient and reliable methods of counting and surveying bicycle and transit users are estab- lished, researchers could conduct detailed studies to answer the following questions: • How many customers started using transit because of new bicycle services, rather than existing transit cus- tomers switching from some other mode to using bicy- cles? (Several transit agencies have found an increase in the use of bicycle services over time and increases when bicycle service was expanded. Anecdotal evidence indicates that some of these additional users would not have taken transit if bicycle services were not offered.

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TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 62: Integration of Bicycles and Transit examines how transit agencies may improve their existing services and assist other communities in developing new bicycle and transit services. Synthesis 62 updates TCRP Synthesis 4: Integration of Bicycles and Transit (1994).

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