The City of Atlanta plans to triple the mileage of protected bike infrastructure. These projects are on Atlanta’s High Injury Network, the small fraction of city streets that contribute the majority of Atlanta’s traffic fatalities and injuries on arterials and local roads. Adding new protected facilities is likely to influence how existing cyclists get around. The new infrastructure may also influence a mode shift to cycling. However, cyclists choose routes based upon more than distance and travel time. For example, uphill/downhill road grade and perception of safety may significantly influence route choice. This project will develop a shortest path calculator that can identify the relative travel cost across routes for a case study subarea within the City of Atlanta. BikewaySim will be an important tool for use in assessing where to place new bicycle infrastructure.
Implementation of Research Outputs
The research team’s work on BikewaySim and SidewalkSim, tools for calculating shortest paths for active travel modes, has informed the work of the Atlanta Regional Commission. The methods for network creation and shortest path calculation for BikewaySim and SidewalkSim are being adopted directly into the Atlanta ITS4US project, which will use technology to improve transportation for older adults and people with disabilities.