Network Connectivity and Low-Stress Bicycling

Abstract

For bicycling networks to attract the mainstream population, a critical attribute is low-stress connectivity, that is, providing routes between people’s origins and destinations that do not require cyclists to use links that exceed their tolerance for traffic stress, and that do not involve an undue level of detour. A set of criteria are proposed by which road segments, intersection approaches, and intersection crossings can be classified into four levels of traffic stress (LTS), of which LTS 2, based on Dutch bikeway design criteria, represents the traffic stress that most adults will tolerate. As a case study, every street in San Jose, California was classified by LTS. Maps in which only lower stress links are displayed reveal a city divided into islands within which low-stress bicycling is possible, but separated from one another by barriers that can only be crossed using high stress links. Such maps can help guide network development by revealing barriers such as arterial streets that lack intersections with both safe crossing provision and low-stress approaches. A summary measure of connectivity, the connectivity ratio for a given LTS, is the fraction of daily trips connected at that LTS. For San Jose, the fraction of work trips up to 6 miles long that are connected at LTS 2 is 4.7%. This figure would almost triple by implementing a modest slate of improvements aimed at connecting low-stress streets and paths with each other.

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