hello all --
I am wondering if any models exist that can could help illustrate the relative capacity of a
multi-use facility for bicycles and pedestrians (assume no other uses such as rollerblades for
now). I have had some exposure to using Erlang formulas for things such as modeling telephone
trunk capacity or call center service levels, and thought that a similar application might exist
for bike paths.
One goal for such a model would be determining when to allow special events on the facility...
As an example, I built a simple model, using the following assumptions--
1. The relative speed at which a bicycle can comfortably and saftely navigate a facility is a
function of how crowded the facility is; therefore bicyclists can act as a measure of the
facility's available capacity; we might consider this a "service level" that can be managed or
analyzed, much like traffic engineers manage transporation corridors
2. System Capacity can be determined based on maximum number of pedestrians that can comfortably
use the system; alternatively this might be considered the number at which no bikes would be
able to saftely navigate the facility
3. Byclists impact the facility as a function of their speed, therefore there is some relationship
between the number of bicyclists that can safetly use the facility and the number of
pedestrains that can comfortably use the facility
4 A "multiplier" can be created that represents the tradeoffs between the pedestrians and bicyclists
Your comments on these assumptions or any information about existing models would be appreciated (i
am not really looking to re-create the wheel)
thanks for you feedback
FMA