A Bicycle Friendly City, a Possibility Or a Dream? an Analysis of the Bicycle’S Status and Possibilities As Transportation in the City of Reykjavík, Iceland
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A bicycle friendly city, a possibility or a dream? An analysis of the bicycle’s status and possibilities as transportation in the city of Reykjavík, Iceland Institutionen för teknik och samhälle Avdelning trafik och väg Sunna Ósk Kristinsdóttir Copyright © Sunna Ósk Kristinsdóttir LTH, Institutionen för Teknik och samhälle CODEN: LUTVDG/(TVTT-5200)/1-116/2012 ISSN 1653-1922 Tryckt i Sverige av Media-Tryck, Lunds universitet Lund 2012 Examensarbete CODEN: LUTVDG/(TVTT-5200)/1- 116/2012 Thesis / Lunds Tekniska Högskola, ISSN 1653-1922 Instutionen för Teknik och samhälle, Trafik och väg, 234 Author(s): Sunna Ósk Kristinsdóttir Title: En cykelvänlig stad, dröm eller möjlighet? English title: A bicycle friendly city, a possibility or a dream? Year: 2012 Keywords: (5-6 st) Bicycle traffic; cycle infrastructure; traffic mode; cyclist; transportation; modal split Citation: Sunna Ósk Kristinsdóttir, A bicycle friendly city, a possibility or a dream. Lund, Lunds universitet, LTH, Institutionen för Teknik och samhälle. Trafik och väg 2012. Thesis. 234 Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to assess the current situation and status of bicycle traffic within the city of Reykjavík, focusing especially on two different routes. This is performed by first presenting the current situation of the bicycle as a transport mode in the city of Reykjavík, followed by a literature study on the subject of increased cycling within cities. An observational analysis, that shows the current status of the bicycle infrastructure within the city, reveals the lack of focus that has characterized cycle planning within the city up until the year of 2010, when a city cycle plan was compiled. In order to expand understanding of the current and future situation both city planners and city officials involved in traffic and cycle planning were interviewed, along with the users of the cycle network. These two groups expressed their views on cycling in general as well as cycling within the city of Reykjavík. Their attitude towards the current situation depends greatly on the type of cyclist, the more experienced, everyday cyclist prefers cycling on the streets alongside other traffic modes while the leisure cyclist prefers specific cycle infrastructure. A common perspective among all the cyclists however seems to be that more focus should be put on cycling within traffic planning in general, and the city planners and officials seem to agree with the cyclists on this issue. Trafik och väg Transport and Roads Institutionen för Teknik och samhälle Department of Technology and Society Lunds Tekniska Högskola, LTH Faculty of Engineering, LTH Lunds Universitet Lund University Box 118, 221 00 LUND Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden 6 7 Preface Living in Lund made me realize the convenience of using the bicycle as transportation. When I moved back to Reykjavík I got right back to using the car for literally any errand. This made me want to investigate the reason for this and hence this research topic of cycling in Reykjavík was born. First and foremost I would like to thank my fiancé for his patience during my work on this thesis. Also, I would like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement throughout this project. I would also like thank all of my respondents, who took the time to meet with me and answer my questions. My supervisor, Till Koglin and examinator Åse Svensson also deserve their share of thanks for answering and commenting on all questions thrown at them. The experience of writing this thesis has been educational, and has inspired me to do further research in this particular field. Reykjavík, June 2012 Sunna Ósk Kristinsdóttir 8 Table of Contents Preface .................................................................................................................................... 8 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... 9 Table of Figures .................................................................................................................... 11 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 12 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 14 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................ 14 1.2 Aim/Goal ............................................................................................................... 15 1.3 Method and setup of report .................................................................................... 15 1.4 Limitations ............................................................................................................. 17 1.5 Facts of interest regarding the city of Reykjavík ................................................... 18 1.5.1 The city of Reykjavík ..................................................................................... 18 1.5.2 Parking preconditions ..................................................................................... 21 1.5.3 Current status of planned improvements to bicycle infrastructure ................. 22 1.5.4 Environmental policy ..................................................................................... 26 1.5.5 Transportation policy ...................................................................................... 27 1.5.6 Master plan policy .......................................................................................... 29 1.5.7 The two neighborhoods .................................................................................. 30 1.5.8 Views of the city’s residents ........................................................................... 31 1.5.9 Current modal split ......................................................................................... 32 1.5.10 SWOT analysis ............................................................................................... 34 2 Literature study – What makes a good city for cyclists ................................................ 38 2.1 Attitudes toward cycling in general ....................................................................... 38 2.2 Infrastructure .......................................................................................................... 43 2.3 Policies ................................................................................................................... 43 2.4 Measures to increase cycling ................................................................................. 46 3 Observational analysis .................................................................................................. 49 3.1 Route 1 –Breiðholt to Skeifan ............................................................................... 55 3.2 Route 2 –Hlíðar to Skeifan .................................................................................... 61 3.3 Conclusions of the observational analysis ............................................................. 69 9 4 Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 71 4.1 Interviews with cyclists/users of the cycle network .............................................. 71 4.1.1 Reasons for cycling and perceived benefits and detriments of cycling .......... 74 4.1.2 Improvements to the cycle network................................................................ 75 4.1.3 Where do the respondents like/prefer to cycle? .............................................. 77 4.1.4 Where do the respondents dislike/not prefer to cycle? ................................... 77 4.1.5 Would respondents use cycle lanes in the streets? ......................................... 78 4.2 Interviews with persons from the city .................................................................... 79 4.2.1 Results from an interview with a city planner ................................................ 79 4.2.2 Results from interviews with city officials ..................................................... 81 5 Discussion and analysis ................................................................................................. 87 6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 89 7 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 91 7.1 Written sources ...................................................................................................... 91 7.2 Electronic sources .................................................................................................. 93 7.3 Unpublished sources .............................................................................................. 95 7.4 Interviews ............................................................................................................... 95 Appendices ........................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix A Summary from interviews......................................................................... 100 10 Table of Figures Figure 1-1 The neighborhoods in Reykjavík (Reykjavíkurborg a) ...................................... 18 Figure 1-2 Existing cycle network in Reykjavík (Reykjavíkurborg,