GIS and bikeway design

[l.zambernardi]

I went through different literature and case studies to find out any standard model for designing bikeways, especially recreational ones. Unfortunately I did not find any.

For my master's thesis, I am developing a GIS-based model for designing city-wide bikeway network for the City of Buffalo, NY. If anyone knows about such studies or practices, please let me know. Thank you.

 

[Ellington]

Timesaver Standards for Landscape Architecture is the big LA reference book, and it has guidelines for the actual design of bike ways and greenways. It might help. Check with state Depts. of Transportation--North Carolina has a Bicycle Section, and they have some resources. Oregon and California may have more info. Also, there are firms that specialize in greenway design, including bikeways (the one that comes to mind is Greenways, Inc. in Cary, NC, but there are alot of other firms, too)

Karen Culpepper's recent book, GIS in Landscape Design, might be helpful.

In grad school, our team used ArcINFO to determine the best location for a recreational bike trail in a rural county. It worked pretty well; the hardest part was determining parameters for viewsheds since the bike trail went through a rural historic district. Of course, it was only for a class, so it never got tested in the real world.

It sounds like a good project, but be sure to check out real-world resources that may not have been written-up as case studies (not just "the literature")