Aalborg Universitet Bike Infrastructures Report Silva, Victor ... - VBN

street is used by both car drivers and cyclists. Impacts on
travel behaviour like modal choice are not studied. Questionnaires
were distributed to people living at or near the
Venkelstraat and to pupils and employees of the Rudolf
Steinerschool, a school for both primary and secondary
education. The school is located at the southern end of
the Venkelstraat. The number of distributed questionnaires
was 1500: 750 to residents of the street and surroundings,
and another 750 to pupils and employees of
the school. The number of returned questionnaires was
335, about 200 from the residents and about 130 from
those connected to the school. Most questions in the
questionnaire were multiple-choice, though there was
room for additional remarks and suggestions.
The results demonstrate that people generally are satisfied
with the bicycle street; 58% of the respondents
reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied, 16%
was dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. The remaining respondents
had no clear opinion. An even higher share
of respondents was satisfied with the look of the street
(72%), where only 10% was dissatisfied. A majority had
the opinion that noise nuisance was not affected, while
more respondents that felt that noise nuisance decreased
(21%) than increased (6%). According to most respondents
current provisions regarding speed ramps and lighting
are sufficient.
The respondents were asked whether they use the street
as a car driver or as a cyclist. Something less than a half
(42%) report using the street as a car driver, a large majority
(91%) indicate that they use the street as a cyclist
or moped rider. Both car drivers and cyclists were asked
about the way they use the street.
Most car drivers (82%) are aware that cyclists have priority
and need not to go aside for overtaking cars. Interestingly,
a large share of cyclists (61%) answer that they
actually go aside when a car approaches on the back.
Nearly half of the car drivers (44%) cannot conclude from
the design of the street that cyclists have priority. Most of
the car drivers (61%) use the street wrongly: they drive
fully on the red lane in the middle. The share of cyclists
that know that the red asphalt is dedicated for them is
smaller, only 55%. These results indicate that many users
do not know how the bicycle street should be used.
This can be explained by the fact that 67% of the respondents
had not read information about the bicycle street.
Both communication and design of the street should be
improved.
A number of respondents suggested that marking the
middle of the street would increase clarity about function
and usage. The street gets the look of a bicycle path and
gives car drivers the feeling that they have to ride at the
right side of the road. The municipality complied with this
suggestion and put road signs informing that the street
is a bicycle street. Figure 6.3 displays the situation after
marking and signposting.
General conclusions from the Venkelstraat evaluation
are that a good communication with users is important;
that users generally are satisfied with the street; that the
way the street has to be used is not self-evident; and that
marking the middle of the street and signposting increase
clarity about how the street should be used.
With respect to marking the middle of the street, it should
be added that a number of bicycle streets in the Netherlands
are provided with a spherical median that can be
driven over by vehicles.
Figure 6.3 Venkelstraat Haarlem after marking and signposting
(source: Ligtermoet, 2006)
Figure 6.2: Venkelstraat in Haarlem (source: Kho, 2006)
64 65