Assessing Bikeabililty of an Urban Road: A Case of Kupondole-Jawalakhel-Lagankhel Road Stretch

Abstract

From the perspectives of personal health, the environment, and the economy, using a bicycle as urban transportation within a city is a highly sustainable option. Despite this fact, cycling is still not a popular mode of transport in Kathmandu. Existing policies and practices seem unable to promote cycling in cities. Therefore, this study aims to access the bikeability of an urban road and obtain measures to promote it in an urban context. To obtain the defined objective, the Kupondole–Jawalakhel–Lagankhel road stretch within Lalitpur Metropolitan City was selected as a study area. A literature review identified various built environment attributes influencing the bikeability of urban roads in the context of the Kathmandu valley. Then each attribute's influence level was calculated based on the perception survey with road users. Similarly, in order to assess the bikeability, assessment criteria for each attribute were defined. Finally, the selected road stretch’s built environment attributes were assessed based on the defined criteria and categorized as "highly bikeable," "bikeable," and "low bikeable."