Speed
The AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities (p. 36) recommends a minimum design speed of 30 km/h (20 mi/h) for shared use paths.(2) Table 12 shows that the mean speed for bicyclists in this study was 17 km/h (11 mi/h), and the 85th percentile speed, 22 km/h (14 mi/h). Thus, the AASHTO value is higher than the speeds observed for most bicyclists.
Recumbent bicyclists appear to be the critical user, as they had the highest mean (23 km/h (14 mi/h)) and 85th percentile (29 km/h (18 mi/h)) speeds. For all user types, the 85th percentile speed was less than 30 km/h (20 mi/h). Thus, the AASHTO value is higher than the speeds observed for most recumbent bicyclists.
The lowest mean speeds were observed for strollers (5 km/h (3 mi/h)) and manual wheelchairs (6 km/h (4 mi/h)). These two user types also had the lowest 15th percentile speeds, 4 km/h (3 mi/h) and 5 km/h (3 mi/h), respectively.
2. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC, 1999.
Table 12. Speed.
| USER TYPE | N | MEAN (km/h) | STD DEV (km/h) | 15TH PER (km/h) | 85TH PER (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bicycle | 367 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 22 |
| Golf Cart | 5 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 19 |
| Hand Cycle | 38 | 14 | 7 | 8 | 19 |
| Inline Skates | 53 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 23 |
| Kick Scooter | 22 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 15 |
| Manual Wheelchair | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Pedestrian | 38 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Power Wheelchair | 12 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| Recumbent Bicycle | 24 | 23 | 7 | 18 | 29 |
| Segway | 4 | 15 | 2 | 14 | 17 |
| Skateboard | 10 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 20 |
| Stroller | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Tandem | 3 | 19 | 6 | 15 | 22 |
| Other | 7 | 14 | 4 | 11 | 17 |
NOTES:
1. This table includes both active and in situ participants.
2. AASHTO value for shared use paths = 30 km/h (20 mi/h)
The speeds of active and in situ participants were compared for each user type. Active bicyclists traveled faster than in situ bicyclists, and this difference was statistically significant. On the other hand, active kick scooters and manual wheelchairs traveled slower than their in situ counterparts, and both differences were statistically significant. For other user types, the observed differences in speed between active and in situ participants were not statistically significant.
Table 13. Speed-active vs. in situ participants.
| USER TYPE | ACTIVE N | ACTIVE MEAN (km/h) | IN SITU N | IN SITU MEAN (km/h) | NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bicycle | 114 | 19 | 235 | 16 | S |
| Golf cart | 0 | - | 1 | 20 | NA |
| Hand cycle | 24 | 15 | 9 | 11 | - |
| Inline skates | 24 | 17 | 25 | 16 | - |
| Kick scooter | 11 | 12 | 5 | 15 | S |
| Manual wheelchair | 6 | 6 | 6 | 11 | S |
| Pedestrian | 0 | - | 30 | 7 | NA |
| Power wheelchair | 8 | 10 | 2 | 7 | - |
| Recumbent bicycle | 9 | 21 | 12 | 25 | - |
| Segway | 4 | 15 | 0 | - | NA |
| Skateboard | 4 | 13 | 6 | 13 | - |
| Stroller | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | - |
| Tandem | 2 | 17 | 1 | 23 | NA |
| Other | 1 | 16 | 5 | 13 | NA |
NOTES: This table includes both active and in situ participants. S = Significant at the 0.05 level.
- = Not significant.
Blank = Mean not calculated because N=0.
NA = Statistical significance not tested because N<2.
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