Overtaking Disturbance on a Moped-Bicycle-Shared Bicycle Path and Corresponding New Bicycle Path Design Principles

Abstract

In China, the overtaking disturbance caused by mopeds on a shared bicycle path is one of the most important factors that could significantly affect a cyclist’s riding safety. However, bicycle paths are currently designed for the pure bicycle flow condition and not the new moped-bicycle-mixed flow condition. This paper investigates how a bicycle is affected when it is overtaken by a moped and determines the critical condition of the occurrence of this overtaking disturbance. The research analyzes the overtaken bicycle maneuvers in 257 moped-passing-bicycle events. Results show that when an overtaking disturbance occurs, the bicycle’s lateral acceleration volatility decreases. Based on probability theory, this research demonstrates that both widening the bicycle lane and posting a speed limit could mitigate the overtaking disturbance. However, the positive effect of posting a speed limit is more efficient than that of widening the bicycle lane, and only a speed limit of 25 km/h for mopeds without any change to the current bicycle lane width could mitigate over 9% unacceptable overtaking disturbances.