Abstract:Davis’ reputation as the “Bicycle Capital of the U.S.” is due to its high number of cyclists, its renowned system of bikeways and cyclist-friendly facilities, and supportive City and University programs. But much of the infrastructure is showing wear, with pavement surface defects such as cracks, uplifting, and pothole. To date, bicycle paths or lanes have not emerged as key priorities in traditional pavement systems analysis. Most cities rely on route preferences (e.g. a common route to school) or visual checks to prioritize pavement conditions for bicycles. This research investigates pavement smoothness, bicycle displacement and steering and their relationship to ride quality. Specifically, the authors examine the relationship between bicycle ride quality and traditional pavement roughness measurement, and a new deflection displacement and steering angle indices. The authors used 57 bike path sections with a representative range of pavement surface conditions to collect acceleration data, steering angle data, global positioning system (GPS) location data, and mean texture depth (MTD) data. The authors also recruited cyclists to complete a post-ride survey on ride quality. As has been noted in the, albeit sparse literature, the authors found that bicyclists’ comfort is greatly influenced by surface roughness. The authors also found that vibration in vertical direction plays an important role in ride quality, regardless of bicycle type. The authors' results can help to shape a new bike pavement condition assessment system using MTD, steering angle, and deflection displacement.

Note:Presented at Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, January 8-12, 2017