Decision-making in Urban Trajectories of Bike Users: a Preliminary Study

Developed countries have invested considerable efforts in promoting sustainable transportation modes, identifying bicycle use as a more environmentally friendly alternative. Nevertheless, this transition necessitates a deeper understanding of bicycle user behaviour to facilitate the process. This study investigates bike users’ route selection behaviour based on real-world data. Data collected over six months from Bologna, Italy, were analysed to understand the flow and choices of bike users in a medium-small historical city. We employed a tessellation algorithm combined with Open Street Map street tags to examine bike users’ preferences regarding urban trajectories. The dataset comprises of 290,117 unique trips consisting of 60,414,481 Global Positioning System (GPS) points. The results indicate that bicycles are predominantly used for short- to medium-distance trips. Specifically, in suburban regions, bike users tend to use larger roads leading to the city centre, whereas, in the city centre, they prefer routes that bypass the narrow streets of the historic area. These findings offer insights into route choice factors and can guide improvements to cycling infrastructure for a safer, more efficient urban environment.