Sustainable commuting: Improving cycling corridors with digital data
Making commuting by bicycle more attractive: Salzburg Research surveyed the ride quality of the most important cycle paths from the surrounding area into the city of Salzburg. This digital assessment allows prioritisation of constructional improvement measures.
The city of Salzburg is confronted with considerable traffic flows at the entry corridors on a daily basis. In a sustainable and holistic mobility management, cycling is also an important component. A neutral, data-based assessment of the cycling infrastructure forms the basis for further improvements.
Cycling corridors “under the microscope”
The quality of the cycle corridors Neumarkt – Salzburg, state border Freilassing – Salzburg as well as border Walserberg – Salzburg were examined within the framework of the current cycling surveys. For the first time, the ride quality of the most important cycle routes from the surrounding area to the city of Salzburg was objectively evaluated. The evaluation according to a four-point scale allows for the prioritisation of measures.
The cycling infrastructure was assessed with real measured movement and sensor data during several rides. From this, we were able to determine the quality of the road surface and individual impacts. This allows us to identify those areas with the greatest need for action with the help of digital technology.
This is how the data was collected
Trained test riders examined the bicycle corridors on predefined routes with a total length of 153 kilometres through targeted, repeated rides. Commercially available e-bikes with a defined tyre pressure of 4.5 bar and a rigid fork were used. A smartphone mounted on the handlebars recorded the vibrations along the route using the BikeQuality app from Salzburg Research.
Data on 204 tracks and 804 kilometres ridden were recorded with the BikeQuality app and evaluated by a cloud-based mobility data analysis service from Salzburg Research. Based on the shocks, the ride quality was evaluated in a ten-metre grid on the basis of a four-level scale – comfortable, rideable, poor and very poor – and visualised on a map. Light, medium and strong impacts along the corridors were also determined.
“The results are encouraging: more than 60 percent of the surveyed cycling corridors into the city of Salzburg have a comfortable surface quality. Of the total distance of 153 kilometres, only 10 kilometres are poor and only 2 kilometres are very poor,” says mobility data researcher Sven Leitinger from Salzburg Research.
Framework conditions of the analysis
The analysis of surface quality with the BikeQuality app by Salzburg Research was realised within the framework of the Urban Mobility Lab zukunftswege.at with the support of the Ministry of Climate Protection and the City and Province of Salzburg. “We are happy to make the data on bicycle quality collected and evaluated here available via the mobility lab zukunftswege.at,” says Christian Kainz from zukunftswege.at.
If you are interested in the results of this survey, please contact zukunftswege.at: office@zukunftswege.at
BikeQuality
This quality measurement of the cycling infrastructure can be offered to other cities and municipalities in Austria if there is interest.
Our service: Quality measurement of cycling infrastructure
Digital measurement of the cycling infrastructure as a neutral basis for decision-making for future planning and targeted improvement.
Success Story: Assessment Of The Quality Of Cycling Infrastructures
For the targeted further expansion of the cycle paths in an Austrian state capital, Salzburg Research determined an objective data-based assessment in order to identify those areas with the greatest need for action.
