Microsimulation of cyclists’ behavior Evaluating the impacts of traffic demand and infrastructure design on cyclists’ behavior

Because of the numerous benefits of cycling as a sustainable transportation mode, governments worldwide have increasing interest in cycling. Understanding and being able to model cyclists’ behavior is essential if cities want to accommodate increasing numbers of cyclists in the future. When a representative behavioral model exists, scenario evaluation can be performed to test which measures are most beneficial to implement in a certain area. However, the research and knowledge on cyclists’ behavior is still limited compared to motorized traffic behavior. This research presents innovate methods to model cyclists’ behavior in a multimodal environment. To validate the behavioral model, GPS data was collected by conducting an unconstrained cycling experiment. The validated behavioral model is applied to a high-density cycling area in the City of Utrecht. Various scenarios are formulated to assess the impact of traffic demand and infrastructure designs. Besides area-specific insights for the investigated network, the evaluation of scenarios showed that the microsimulation model is able to extract high resolution data. For a detailed consideration of, the impact of spatial interventions on different transportation modes or routes. This research also revealed the potential of applying multimodal microsimulation to evaluate and visualize future urban developments.