scholarly journals Impacts of Bicycle Infrastructure in Mid-Sized Cities (IBIMS): protocol for a natural experiment study in three Canadian cities

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e019130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Winters ◽  
Michael Branion-Calles ◽  
Suzanne Therrien ◽  
Daniel Fuller ◽  
Lise Gauvin ◽  
...  

IntroductionBicycling is promoted as a transportation and population health strategy globally. Yet bicycling has low uptake in North America (1%–2% of trips) compared with European bicycling cities (15%–40% of trips) and shows marked sex and age trends. Safety concerns due to collisions with motor vehicles are primary barriers.To attract the broader population to bicycling, many cities are making investments in bicycle infrastructure. These interventions hold promise for improving population health given the potential for increased physical activity and improved safety, but such outcomes have been largely unstudied. In 2016, the City of Victoria, Canada, committed to build a connected network of infrastructure that separates bicycles from motor vehicles, designed to attract people of ‘all ages and abilities’ to bicycling.This natural experiment study examines the impacts of the City of Victoria’s investment in a bicycle network on active travel and safety outcomes. The specific objectives are to (1) estimate changes in active travel, perceived safety and bicycle safety incidents; (2) analyse spatial inequities in access to bicycle infrastructure and safety incidents; and (3) assess health-related economic benefits.Methods and analysisThe study is in three Canadian cities (intervention: Victoria; comparison: Kelowna, Halifax). We will administer population-based surveys in 2016, 2018 and 2021 (1000 people/city). The primary outcome is the proportion of people reporting bicycling. Secondary outcomes are perceived safety and bicycle safety incidents. Spatial analyses will compare the distribution of bicycle infrastructure and bicycle safety incidents across neighbourhoods and across time. We will also calculate the economic benefits of bicycling using WHO’s Health Economic Assessment Tool.Ethics and disseminationThis study received approval from the Simon Fraser University Office of Research Ethics (study no. 2016s0401). Findings will be disseminated via a website, presentations to stakeholders, at academic conferences and through peer-reviewed journal articles.

2019 ◽  
Vol 254 ◽  
pp. 03007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Sakhno ◽  
Juraj Gerlici ◽  
Viktor Poliakov ◽  
Alexandr Kravchenko ◽  
Oleg Omelnitcky ◽  
...  

The peculiarities of organization and perspectives of mass passenger transportation in the city and beyond are considered with the use of "Bus Rapid Transport" (BRT) or Metrobus. Different aspects of study of motor vehicles (MV) controllability and stability are analyzed. It is substantiated that it is sufficient to consider the potential stability of the MV itself, in order to guarantee the stability of the "driver MV" system with a large reserve. A mathematical model of a three-axle bus train consisting of a bus and two trains (metrobus) is developed and the factors influencing the critical speed as the main index of the stability of its movement are determined. It is established that the increase of the critical speed of the metrobus can be achieved by increasing the base of the bus, the first and the second trailer, as well as the mass of the bus and the coefficients of resistance of the drive wheels of the bus driving axle and the trailers axles. At the same time, increasing the distance from the mass center to the bus rear axle, increasing the distance from the mass center to the point of the coupling of the bus with the first trailer, increasing the mass of trailers and the resistance of the resistance of the wheel drive of the bus axis lead to a decrease in the critical speed of the metrobus. This must be taken into account both when designing metrobuses, and when operating them.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Indah Khalimatul Lestari ◽  
Rian Destiningsih

The existence of construction in an area will have an influence on regional development. Likewise in the City of Magelang, the construction sector is a sector that contributes a fairly large GRDP with the construction of construction such as buildings and roads as the provision of facilities and infrastructure will result in an increase in community welfare which will also affect economic growth. The purpose of this study was identif construction sector in the form of roads and buildings with the results of a map of the distribution of construction in the City of Magelang by looking at the local construction service company so that it can be a reference in improving regional development, especially the construction sector to realize adequate infrastructure. As well as the socio-economic benefits of having a construction service company in Magelang City. This study used qualitative descriptive method with questionnaire, interview, observation and observation techniques. In the 2020 construction distribution map, there are high, medium and low building densities where high building densities dominate in the middle of the city along the main road. Road construction helps the distribution of goods and services and maximizes community access. The existence of a local construction service company provides benefits to the community both socially and economically, such as employment, services, and improvement of infrastructure facilities for the community. However, stronger synergy is needed to realize quality construction and utilize local resources in its implementation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Nicholaus Mwageni ◽  
Robert Kiunsi

Green spaces in urban areas including in Dar es Salaam City provide multiple ecological, social and economic benefits. Despite their benefits they are inadequately documented in terms types, coverage and uses. This paper attempts to provide information on types, coverage and uses of green space in Dar es Salaam City. A number of methods including literature review, interpretation of remotely sensed image, interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires were used to document city greenery. The research findings show that residential greenery is made up of greenery found within and external to plots. The dominant green spaces external to residential plots were natural and semi natural vegetation while within plots were woody plants, plots farms vegetable and ornamental gardens. Distribution of greenery varied among the wards due to differences in building density and distance from the city centre. Natural and semi natural vegetation increased with decrease of building density and increase of distance from the city centre, while the number of plots with trees for shade increased with increase of building density. Only Kawe ward that had greenery above Tanzania space planning standards, the other three wards which are informal settlements had green space deficit. Three quarters of the households use green spaces for shade provision and cooling, two thirds as a source of food products and a quarter for recreation and aesthetic purposes. The study reveals that Dar es Salaam City residents invest predominantly on shade trees in their residential plots compared to other green space types.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinko Miličević ◽  
Danijel Knežević ◽  
Zoran Bubaš

The problems in this paper belong to the field of migration and economy. The connection between migration and the economy has been proven on a global level, and as far as the Republic of Croatia is concerned, it is especially important to observe it through the City of Zagreb, which is the most important migration and economic center in the Republic of Croatia. Also, the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union emphasized the observation and research of this connection because it created the preconditions for freer movement and employment of the population of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb within the European Union. The aim of this paper is to determine the contribution of migration to the economic growth of the City of Zagreb. The hypothesis presented in the paper is that there is a significant contribution of migration to the economic growth of the City of Zagreb. The disposition of the paper consists of six parts. The introduction explains the relevance of the topic, states the aim of the paper and hypotheses, explains the empirical part, the contribution of the paper and the disposition. The second part of the paper refers to the theoretical framework of the impact of migration on economic growth. The third part of the paper presents the migration processes of the City of Zagreb in the period from 2011 to 2018. The fourth part deals with economic activity in the City of Zagreb in the period from 2011 to 2017. The observed indicators of economic activity in the City of Zagreb are GDP and GDP per capita, and the graph in this part of the paper shows that GDP and GDP per capita in the observed period are higher at the end of the period than at the beginning. The fifth part of the paper refers to the empirical research of the contribution of migration to the economic growth of the City of Zagreb. The empirical part of the paper is based on correlations and regression analyses. This paper proves the hypothesis because the results indicate a significant impact of the variables of total and external migration on the GDP of the City of Zagreb and GDP per capita of the City of Zagreb. Decision-makers in the City of Zagreb can use the results of the research as a basis for maximizing the economic benefits they can get from migration. The conclusion provides an overview of the aim of the work, the results of the research, the limitations, the implications and the recommendations for future research.


Author(s):  
Edy Sahputra Sitepu ◽  
Rismawati Rismawati ◽  
Dewi Comala ◽  
Edi Putra Berutu ◽  
Jamardua Haro ◽  
...  

Medan City is currently designated as one of the 20 national tourism destinations that implement Sustainable Tourism Development (STD) in Indonesia. The commitment to implement STD nationally is marked by the signing of the text of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of 20 Regional Heads who are committed to implementing STD together with the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism. Furthermore, under the supervision of the Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Tourism, 20 existing Regencies / Cities made various improvements in each region so that they were finally eligible for STD certification from the STD international certification body. Medan City itself, through the Medan City Tourism Office, related to the implementation of the STD, has established a number of leading tourism destinations. It is hoped that in the future, Medan City will have tourist destinations that have received STD certification. This research was conducted to formulate a model of implementing sustainable tourism development in Medan with a total sample of 220 people spread over 11 leading tourist destinations in the city of Medan, samples were taken with a purposive random sampling technique. The research variables used include; sustainable management, socio-cultural benefits, economic benefits for the surrounding community, environmental benefits and the application of sustainable tourism. Data analysis was carried out with a structural model of the Structural Equation Model (SEM) with the help of Amos 22 software. The results showed that the management aspects, economic aspects, socio-cultural aspects of environmental aspects, and the impact of tourism, directly and indirectly, have a positive effect on the implementation of sustainable tourism in the city of Medan.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariwan Jamal ◽  
Wanawsha Khasraw ◽  
Shaey Khabat ◽  
Rozhen K. Mohammed-Amin

Walkable cities, neighborhoods, and streets promote good health. A growing number of research show compelling evidence about the positive impacts of walkable neighborhoods and streets on everything from real-estate values to health, mental well-being, crime rate, safety feeling, creativity, and even making cities more democratic. Walkability has health, environmental, and economic benefits. For example, several studies found that people in walkable neighborhoods have a higher amount of physical activity and were substantially less likely to be overweight or obese than those living in low-walkable neighborhoods. Walkable neighborhoods and streets incorporate features that promote regular walking, cycling and public transit use. While the city of Sulaimani in general suffers from lack of walkable neighborhoods and streets, due to many factors including incomplete streets, some of the city’s neighborhoods and streets have potential for becoming effective walkable neighborhoods and streets. The recent mixed use developments and re-developments in some of the areas and streets in the city have attracted a large number of people and increased the necessity of making those areas and streets more pedestrian-friendly and walkable. This research aims at investigating walkability characters in Sulaimani city’s recently developed mixed-use streets through closely examining a representing case study, Jamal Irfan street. The research then proposes strategies, guidelines, and urban design interventions that make those streets more pedestrian friendly according to urban design standards.


Author(s):  
Ali Al-Ramini ◽  
Mohammad A Takallou ◽  
Daniel P Piatkowski ◽  
Fadi Alsaleem

Most cities in the United States lack comprehensive or connected bicycle infrastructure; therefore, inexpensive and easy-to-implement solutions for connecting existing bicycle infrastructure are increasingly being employed. Signage is one of the promising solutions. However, the necessary data for evaluating its effect on cycling ridership is lacking. To overcome this challenge, this study tests the potential of using readily-available crowdsourced data in concert with machine-learning methods to provide insight into signage intervention effectiveness. We do this by assessing a natural experiment to identify the potential effects of adding or replacing signage within existing bicycle infrastructure in 2019 in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. Specifically, we first visually compare cycling traffic changes in 2019 to those from the previous two years (2017–2018) using data extracted from the Strava fitness app. Then, we use a new three-step machine-learning approach to quantify the impact of signage while controlling for weather, demographics, and street characteristics. The steps are as follows: Step 1 (modeling and validation) build and train a model from the available 2017 crowdsourced data (i.e., Strava, Census, and weather) that accurately predicts the cycling traffic data for any street within the study area in 2018; Step 2 (prediction) use the model from Step 1 to predict bicycle traffic in 2019 while assuming new signage was not added; Step 3 (impact evaluation) use the difference in prediction from actual traffic in 2019 as evidence of the likely impact of signage. While our work does not demonstrate causality, it does demonstrate an inexpensive method, using readily-available data, to identify changing trends in bicycling over the same time that new infrastructure investments are being added.


2011 ◽  
pp. 869-883
Author(s):  
Kristiane Davidson ◽  
Ned Lukies ◽  
Debbie Lehtonen

In an age when escalating fuel prices, global warming and world resource depletion are of great concern, sustainable transport practices promise to define a new way of mobility into the future. With its comparatively minimal negative environmental impacts, non reliance on fuels and positive health effects, the simple bicycle offers significant benefits to humankind. These benefits are evident worldwide where bicycles are successfully endorsed through improved infrastructure, supporting policies, public education and management. In Australia, the national, state and local governments are introducing measures to improve and support green transport. This is necessary as current bicycle infrastructure is not always sufficient and the longstanding conflict with motorized transport still exists. The aim for the future is to implement sustainable hard and soft bicycle infrastructure globally; the challenges of such a task can be illustrated by the city of Brisbane, Australia.


2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
MN Mondol ◽  
M Khaled ◽  
AS Chamon ◽  
SM Ullah

Aerosol particulate matter and trace gases were sampled at five locations in the city areas of Bangladesh. The sampling sites were selected in the city areas near motor vehicles run with heavy traffic. The average concentrations of total suspended particulate matter in city ambient air were 413.02, 292.63, 671.65, 184.09 and 301.13 ?g m-³ in Dhaka, Noakhali, Chittagong, Faridpur and Kustia, respectively, which were higher than the daily average value, given by WHO and US EPA standard. The highest SPM concentration is in Chittagong (671.65 ?g m-³) and the lowest in Faridpur (184.09 ?g m-³). The city areas studied fall in the ‘Unhealthy” to “Extremely Unhealthy’ class according to the Air Quality Index, 2003. Trace metal concentrations of total suspended particulate matter in city ambient air were analyzed. The reported previous Pb concentration in farmgate, Dhaka was 1238 ng m-3 by Biswas et al., (2003) and now shows a decreasing tendency, presumably due to the ban on the use of leaded fuel. The average results of trace metals have been compared to national and international standards. The Cu and Zn concentration of current study is found very high in comparison with other previously reported results. The air of Chittagong city is highly polluted. Motor vehicles, especially two stroke engine vehicles are increasingly major sources of air pollution in Chittagong. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjsir.v49i4.22630 Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 49(4), 263-270, 2014


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 9059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania De Gregorio ◽  
Mariangela De Vita ◽  
Pierluigi De Berardinis ◽  
Luis Palmero ◽  
Alessandra Risdonne

Since the European Year of Cultural Heritage, adaptive reuse is considered a strategy for intervention on historical buildings and territories to preserve and enhance artifacts, cities, and communities. Adaptive reuse can also generate social and economic benefits. This work looks at adaptive reuse in the context of industrial heritage, which represents an excellent test benchmark because of its intrinsic architectural characteristics and its localization in the city suburbs. The paper puts forward a methodological approach, verified through the application to a case study, which analyzes both the local context and the building. This study concludes using the data obtained to define an adaptive reuse project with positive repercussions for the community, the environment, and the local economy.


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