Experimental feature of bicycle flow and its modeling

TL;DR

This paper presents experimental observations and modeling of bicycle flow on a circular track, revealing its fundamental diagram, stability, phase transitions, and similarities to vehicle flow, supported by a cellular automaton model.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental data on bicycle flow and introduces a cellular automaton model that accurately replicates observed behaviors.

Findings

Bicycle flow exhibits a fundamental diagram similar to vehicle flow.

The cellular automaton model matches experimental results well.

Bicycle flow shows phase transition behavior and stability characteristics.

Abstract

As a healthy and green transportation mode, cycling has been advocated by many governments. However, compared with vast amounts of works on vehicle flow and pedestrian flow, the bicycle flow study currently lags far behind. We have carried out experimental studies on bicycle flow on a 146-m long circular road. We present the fundamental diagram of bicycle flow and the trajectories of each bicycle. We have analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of bicycle flow as well as its stability and phase transition behavior. The similarity between bicycle flow and vehicle flow has been discussed. We have proposed a cellular automaton model of bicycle flow, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the experiments.