Stockholm's Primary Cycle Paths - Are They for Everyone? : A study of How the Design of the Cycling Infrastructure Affects Perceived Safety and Comfort

Sammanfattning: The bicycle as a means of transport is an important part of a more transport-efficient society as well as to reach Sweden's and the world's climate goals. It also has other advantages, it is a healthy, flexible, and surface-efficient means of transport that does not cause noise and thus provides socio-economic benefits. For more people to want to cycle, however, a cycling infrastructure that a majority of the population feels safe and comfortable with is required. An understanding of different cyclists' infrastructure preferences is therefore of great importance in planning. The purpose of this report is to investigate whether the cycling infrastructure in the city of Stockholm fulfills the degree of perceived safety and comfort which in turn makes it possible to reach the city's targeted number of cyclists. To investigate this, a literature study was conducted on the relationship between bicycle infrastructure, perceived safety and comfort and choosing the bicycle as a means of transport. Bicycle typologies are then examined to see how these relationships vary within the population. This is applied in a Stockholm context through a case study of the Alvik-KTH route where an inventory was conducted to understand the present conditions regarding bicycle infrastructure. Furthermore, an interview was conducted with officials at the City of Stockholm to understand how planning is done practically in the city and which limitations exist within bicycle planning. The study shows that there are differences in infrastructure preferences between different parts of the population. A majority prefers a traffic-separated cycling infrastructure that they feel is safe and comfortable. Currently, these preferences are not met on a large part of the Alvik-KTH route, whereby it may be difficult to reach the City of Stockholm's target for number of cyclists. The City of Stockholm has ambitions to reach a high standard of cycling infrastructure. This study shows that this standard corresponds to the preferences of a majority of the population to some extent. To meet the preferences to a greater extent, supplementary guidelines and measures are needed, which can be taken from leading cycling nations such as the Netherlands. The City also has a limited budget and a street space where many interests must come together. When and to what extent an improvement of the cycle infrastructure can take place is therefore a matter of political priorities.