Evaluation of User Interactions and Preferences of Shared Bicycle and Pedestrian Transit Platforms

Abstract

Shared bike and bus platforms have been deployed in an effort to minimize conflicts between bicycles and buses (and other motor vehicles) on streets with bike lanes and bus transit service. This paper assesses bicycle/micromobility user and pedestrian behavior in shared bicycle and transit platforms along a bus rapid transit corridor in Portland, OR. Research objectives include understanding interactions between these users and potential conflicts between people on foot (or wheelchair/mobility devices) who are waiting for, boarding, and/or alighting a bus and people on bicycles riding in the bike lane. The research also assessed how well the shared transit platforms are working for the visually impaired. The mixed methods approach included video observation of eight platforms (272 h for bicycle/micromobility users; 80 h for transit riders/pedestrians), intercept surveys of transit riders, and interviews of riders experiencing disabilities. Only 2% of bicyclists and other micromobility users (23 out of 1,059 observed) used motor vehicle travel lanes to move past buses, suggesting that the effort to minimize bike and bus conflicts is largely successful. Although bicyclists and other micromobility users rarely stopped for pedestrians in platform areas, they did travel more slowly when buses and transit riders were present. Given the volumes observed, bicycle and micromobility users and transit riders seem to be managing their interactions with few conflicts. However, it is important to note that observed bicycle volumes were low, and transit platforms were rarely crowded during the observed time periods.