Abstract Manager

The focus of urban transportation has shifted towards multi-modal systems that provide travellers with more transportation options. This trend has accelerated with the advent of low-power vehicles such as electric-assist bicycles, scooters, and skateboards that are gaining popularity. The increased prevalence of these vehicles has implications for the comfort of path users in off-street cycling facilities.

The objective of this study was to investigate travellers’ perceptions of comfort in sharing path with new emerging low-power vehicles. Further, we investigated how the presence of electric-assist and microenvironment factors (path grade, facility design, season, other path users, etc.) influenced comfort.

A web intercept survey was designed and advertised to collect data on the nature of interactions among users of non-auto road facilities, particularly their comfort level in sharing the path with various vehicles. The survey was created using the University of British Columbia’s survey tool, Qualtrics, and advertised using sandwich boards at 12 sampling locations across metropolitan Vancouver.

The survey respondents’ perceived comfort was estimated using a mixed-effect regression model with sampling locations and survey respondents as the mixed effects groups. Independent variables in the model included variables that explained the effects of the perceiver, vehicle, and built environment on comfort.

Most travellers, including pedestrians, are comfortable sharing off-street paths with all the observed vehicle types except moped-style electric scooters. Higher speeds and presence of electric assist negatively affected traveller’s comfort. Electric-assist reduces comfort for other path users equivalent to a 9 km/hr faster vehicle, all else equal.

The vehicles were categorized into four comfort- and speed-aligned clusters of 1) low-speed, 2) conventional bicycles, 3) electric-assist, and 4) moped-style electric scooters. The negative impact on path user comfort of each additional conventional bicycle (or similar conventional vehicle) is equivalent to 2.1 times the negative impact of pedestrians and low speed vehicles such as wheelchairs, conventional scooters, and roller/in-line skates. The negative impact of each additional electric bicycle (or similar electric-assist vehicle) is equivalent to 1.3 Cluster 2 vehicles or 2.8 Cluster 1 vehicles. These comfort-equivalents can be used to make volume adjustments for emerging low-power vehicles in multi-use path design, such as thresholds for pedestrian segregation.