Bicycle route preference and pollution inhalation dose: Comparing exposure and distance trade offs
Abstract Do bicyclist preferences for low traffic facilities lead to route choices that minimize air pollution inhalation doses? For both preferences and doses a routing trade off can exist between exposure to motor vehicle traffic and trip duration. We use past studies of bicycle route preferences and pollution exposure levels to estimate exposure/distance trade offs among roadway facility types. Exposure/distance trade offs for preferences and doses are found to be similar when comparing off street paths, bike boulevards, and low to moderate traffic streets with or without bike lanes; when choosing a route among these facilities we expect bicyclists to approximately minimize inhalation doses. Compared to dose minimizing behavior, bicyclists tend to use high traffic streets too often if there is a bike lane and not enough if there is not. The recommendation for practice is to provide low traffic routes wherever possible in bicycle networks, not to limit bicycle facilities on high traffic streets. Networks with extensive low traffic bicycle facilities are robust to misalignments between preferences and doses because they reduce both the likelihood and severity of excess (non minimum) doses.