Are bicycle streets cyclist-friendly? Micro-environmental factors for improving perceived safety when cycling in mixed traffic

A bicycle street is a mixed traffic street where motor vehicles are forced to adapt their speed to bicycle traffic, for example by encouraging cycling in the middle of the street using centered bicycle lanes. The objective safety of cyclists increases with lower vehicle speeds and fewer motor vehicles. Despite this, cyclists’ perception of their safety is often reduced in mixed traffic streets. Subjective unsafety and risk constitute a major barrier to increased cycling. This study investigates how the design of the micro-environment of bicycle streets can improve cyclists’ perceived safety in mixed traffic. A quasi-experimental survey in which 371 participants rated their perceived safety in photo-manipulated bicycle streets was conducted. 52% of the participants were male, the mean age was 43 (20–77) years, and 76% reported that they cycle 4–5 days a week or more. The focus was on evaluating micro-environmental factors such as different designs of centered bicycle lanes, road markings, signs, traffic volume, and parked cars. It is concluded that the micro-environment has important effects on the perceived safety of cyclists. Important gains in subjective safety can be achieved with fairly simple design efforts. Many participants felt safe when there were clearly demarcated red-colored bicycle lanes in the center of the street accompanied by road markings for cyclists. The strongest effect, however, comes from reducing traffic volume. Most participants felt safe in micro-environments in which the traffic volume had been reduced, including those where no design changes had been made. Important differences between different groups of cyclists were also found.