Estimating Bicycle Usage on a National Cycle Network

Abstract

This paper describes the methodology and results from the 1999–2002 Veloland Schweiz surveys of the Swiss national cycle network, using an intercept survey technique, supplemented by cyclist counts and trackside interviews, to obtain information on the magnitude and characteristics of cyclist flows on the Veloland Schweiz national cycling routes. The project used a method of weighting and expanding the sample data obtained from the survey sites to obtain estimates of annual trips and kilometers traveled for catchment areas around each survey site and for the network as a whole. These expansion weights account for the response to the survey and to the spatial and temporal sampling involved in the survey. They also account for weather conditions on the days when the sample surveys were conducted compared with the average weather during the survey year. Finally, cycling-related expenditures associated with trips made on the national network are estimated. Although this method was developed in the context of a national network of cycle routes, it is considered to be applicable at other geographic scales including regional and citywide cycle networks.