Photo Flickr: Boegh Route types to motivate cycling Evidence about route safety & preferences Kay Teschke, Conor Reynolds, Anne Harris, Peter Cripton Mary Chipman, Michael Cusimano, Shelina Babul, Meghan Winters Jeff Brubacher, Steve Friedman, Garth Hunte, Hui Shen
Safety concerns main cycling deterrent
Cycling injury rates differences Europe & NA Netherlands Denmark 1.1 1.4 1.5 1.7 Fatalities per 100 million km Injuries per 10 million km Germany 1.7 4.7 United Kingdom 3.6 6 Canada - BC 2.6 26.4 United States 5.8 37.5 data sources: International - Pucher & Buehler Transport Reviews, 2008 BC - Teschke et al., Can J Pub Health, 2013
Why the differences? It s not the Europeans who wear helmets
Why the differences? Best evidence is safety in numbers 16 14 Deaths per million work trips by bike 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0% 2% 4% 6% % of work trips by bike Sources: Urban Systems; US Census 2010; Statistics Canada, National Household Survey, 2011
Why the differences? What about route infrastructure? North American guru John Forester vehicular cycling Image credit: Advocate Magazine
Bicyclists Injuries & the Cycling Environment
Participating cities Vancouver 2 participating hospitals 0.6 million people rain in winter, temperate summer lots of hills 26 km of bike lanes & paths per 100,000 population 4% of work trips by bike Toronto 3 participating hospitals 2.5 million people snow in winter, heat in summer mostly flat 11 km of bike lanes & paths per 100,000 population 2% of work trips by bike
Study overview Cyclist to Emergency Department Cyclist to emergency department Interview Site observations Data analysis
Interview to map route & choose control sites
Observations of injury & control sites injury site control site 1 control site 2
Case-crossover design features Comparisons cumulated over all person-trips, using conditional likelihood method in Proc Logistic Control sites randomly selected from injury trip: controlling for exposure to risk, i.e., distance ridden on each route type Sites observed by researchers blinded to site status (injury or control): preventing observation bias Comparisons made within a person-trip: controlling for personal & trip characteristics Comparisons cumulated over all person-trips, using conditional logistic regression
Study results
Participants & trips Toronto 273 Vancouver 417 male 59% 19 to 39 years old 62% income > $50,000 56% cycle > 52 times/year 88% wore helmet 69% wore high viz clothes 33% trip < 5 km 68% weekday, daylight 77% commute 42% other transport 32% 690
Injury circumstances - % of events Collisions n=497 Car Bus or truck Vehicle door Streetcar or train track Other cycling surface Infrastructure Cyclist Pedestrian Dog Other collision 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% Falls n=181 Avoiding motor vehicle collision Avoiding other collision Loss of balance Bike malfunction Braking too hard Item caught in wheel Cornering Clipped into toe clips Other fall Motor vehicle involved, n=331 No Motor vehicle involved, n=347
major street sidewalk cycle track Comparison of 15 route types main focus of study
Relative risks by route type s with parked cars shared lane bike lane s, no parked cars shared lane bike lane relative risk 1/100 1/10 1/2 toy 1 10 Local streets bike route bike route with traffic diverters bike route with traffic slowing Separated from traffic sidewalk multiuse path, paved multiuse path, unpaved bike only path cycle track
Relative risks by route type s with parked cars shared lane bike lane s, no parked cars shared lane bike lane relative risk 1/100 1/10 1/2 toy 1 10 Local streets bike route bike route with traffic diverters bike route with traffic slowing Separated from traffic sidewalk multiuse path, paved multiuse path, unpaved bike only path cycle track
Relative risks by route type s with parked cars shared lane bike lane relative risk 1/100 1/10 1/2 1 toy 10 s, no parked cars shared lane bike lane Local streets bike route bike route with traffic diverters bike route with traffic slowing Separated from traffic sidewalk multiuse path, paved multiuse path, unpaved bike only path cycle track
Relative risks by route type s with parked cars shared lane bike lane relative risk 1/100 1/10 1/2 1 toy 10 s, no parked cars shared lane bike lane Local streets bike route bike route with traffic diverters bike route with traffic slowing Separated from traffic sidewalk multiuse path, paved multiuse path, unpaved bike only path cycle track
Relative risks by route type s with parked cars shared lane bike lane relative risk 1/100 1/10 1/2 1 toy 10 s, no parked cars shared lane bike lane Local streets bike route bike route with traffic diverters bike route with traffic slowing Separated from traffic sidewalk multiuse path, paved multiuse path, unpaved bike only path cycle track
Relative risks by route type s with parked cars shared lane bike lane relative risk 1/100 1/10 1/2 1 toy 10 s, no parked cars shared lane bike lane Local streets bike route bike route with traffic diverters bike route with traffic slowing Separated from traffic sidewalk multiuse path, paved multiuse path, unpaved bike only path cycle track
Relative risks by route type s with parked cars shared lane bike lane relative risk 1/100 1/10 1/2 1 toy 10 s, no parked cars shared lane bike lane Local streets bike route bike route with traffic diverters bike route with traffic slowing Separated from traffic sidewalk multiuse path, paved multiuse path, unpaved bike only path cycle track
On or alongside major streets... RR = 0.7 RR = 0.5 RR = 0.1 bike lane with bike lane without parked cars parked cars cycle track
On local streets... RR = 0.7 RR = 0.4 traffic slowing traffic diversion
Off street... RR = 0.6 RR = 0.8 multi-use paths bike paths
bike signage driveways # of marked lanes distance visible along route presence of intersections Other features studied these not significant
Downhill grades... RR = 2 sometimes compounded with limited sight lines traffic circles speed bumps
Streetcar tracks... RR = 3 many crashes began with motor vehicle avoidance manouevres
Construction... RR = 2
Limitations Most severe and mildest injuries not included All studies focus on defined categories of injuries here, those treated at emergency department within 24 hours Not possible to test many route designs multiple types of cycle tracks innovative intersection designs More route designs tested than in other studies to date, all objectively measured
Are safe routes preferred routes?
Survey of preferences 16 route types bike paths 85% paved multi-use paths 77% unpaved multi-use paths 71% cycle tracks 71% local street bike routes with traffic calming 65%
Route preference vs. safety route preference Multiuse path paved Multiuse path unpaved shared lane, no parked cars bike lane, parked cars shared lane, parked cars bike lane, no parked cars Bike only path Residential street bike route Residential street bike route & traffic diverters Residential street Cycle track with parked cars no parked cars route safety
Route preference vs. safety route preference Multiuse path paved Multiuse path unpaved shared lane, no parked cars bike lane, parked cars shared lane, parked cars bike lane, no parked cars Bike only path Residential street bike route Residential street bike route & traffic diverters Residential street Cycle track s with parked cars no parked cars route safety
Route preference vs. safety route preference Multiuse path paved Multiuse path unpaved Multi-use paths shared lane, no parked cars bike lane, parked cars shared lane, parked cars bike lane, no parked cars Bike only path Residential street bike route Residential street bike route & traffic diverters Residential street Cycle track s with parked cars no parked cars route safety
Route preference vs. safety route preference Multiuse path paved Multiuse path unpaved Multi-use paths shared lane, no parked cars bike lane, parked cars shared lane, parked cars bike lane, no parked cars Bike only path Residential street bike route Bike-specific facilities Residential street bike route & traffic diverters Residential street Cycle track s with parked cars no parked cars route safety
s separated bike lanes cycle tracks Photos Flickr: Paul Krueger Local streets bike routes with traffic diversion Off-street bike only paths
Photo Flickr: Boegh thanks to everyone, especially study participants and... Vancouver study team Melody Monro Evan Beaupre Niki Blakely Jill Dalton Martin Kang Theresa Frendo Jack Becker David Hay Peter Stary Toronto study team Lee Vernich Vartouji Jazmaji Kevin McCurley Andrew Thomas Doug Chisholm Nancy Smith Lea Fred Sztabinski David Tomlinson Barbara Wentworth
Photo Flickr: Boegh Photo Flickr: Boegh cyclingincities.spph.ubc.ca cyclingincities.spph.ubc.ca @kteschke