Cycling is a cornerstone of sustainable urban mobility, yet its potential is often limited by fragmented or poorly connected infrastructure. Designing effective bike path networks is not simply achieved by adding more lanes; it is important to create coherent, safe, and attractive routes that encourage widespread adoption. In contrast to many traditional planning approaches that typically focus only on individual segment improvements, our method reveals how upgrades can amplify each other’s impact, improving overall network performance. Upgrading one bike path segment shifts travel behaviour across the entire network, influencing where people go, and which routes become popular.
Here, we introduce a framework to quantify both the individual importance of segments and the synergistic interactions between segments in bike path networks. We illustrate the approach with a perturbed utility route choice model, calibrated to empirical bicycle traffic data. By analysing the higher-order interactions between different segments, we identify which combinations of upgrades generate the most significant system-wide benefits.
The approach not only offers a new tool for planning and expanding bike path networks but also for infrastructure network planning in general, by evaluating complex interactions between multiple segments and support informed, evidence-based decision-making in urban infrastructure planning.
