Paper Details

TRB 91st Annual Meeting (January 22-26, 2012)

Event Number:	539
Event Title:	Bicycle Planning and the Built Environment
Event Date:	Jan 24 2012 10:45AM- 12:30PM
Event Location:	Hilton, International Center
Event Description:
Event Agenda:

Commuter Cyclists' Sensitivity to Changes in Weather: Insight from Two Cities with Different Climatic Conditions (12-2233)

This study examines the relationship between various weather conditions and commuter bicyclist volume in two cities (Portland, USA and Brisbane, Australia), which fall into different climatic zones. Investigating the variation in day-to-day bicycle ridership can help to understand factors influencing demand and in particular how base climatic conditions may condition bicyclist’s responsiveness to changes in weather and climate. Temporal variations in bicycle usage and key weather parameters (temperature and rainfall) are analyzed. Ridership counts and weather data are then used to develop an aggregate demand model that provides quantitative insight into the effects of weather on bicyclist volumes. The results indicate that daily bicyclist volume varies across hours of the day as well as days of the week. Both temperature and rainfall are found to have significant influence on daily bicyclist volume but with different degrees of sensitivity in these two cities which correspond to their base climates. The results are discussed in view of their implications for government strategies that seek to increase the role of bicycle in urban areas.

Authors
     Ahmed, Farhana , Monash University, Australia
     Rose, Geoffrey , Monash University, Australia
     Figliozzi, Miguel , Portland State University
     Jakob, Christian , Monash University, Australia