GIS based model approach for spatial optimization of urban bicycle transportation: Example of Eskisehir

With the integration of bicycle paths into urban roads in today's cities, many city residents have started to use these roads for purposes such as sightseeing, sports, work and transportation. However, the integration of bicycle lanes into urban roads dominated by motor vehicles is a problematic process. One of the biggest challenges in the process of improving bicycle transport in urban areas is the addition of bicycle paths to the built environment. In overcoming such difficulties, besides numerical methods such as network analysis, route problems, spatial optimization, tools such as geographic information systems (GIS) are frequently used due to the convenience they provide. The main purpose of this thesis is to design an optimized bicycle transportation network that includes cyclists' points of interest (IN) in the city of Eskişehir with the help of a GIS-based bicycle route selection methodology. The methodology used in the study not only designs an optimized transportation network for the city of Eskişehir, but also evaluates the adequacy and suitability of the existing bicycle path network from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. In the evaluation of the suitability and adequacy of bicycle paths, three of the current approaches accepted in the literature, bicycling stress level (BKSS), bicycling suitability score (BKUP) and bicycling level of service (BKHS) were used. These approaches have shown that the bicycle lanes in Eskişehir city center are insufficient in terms of both accessibility and suitability. Bicycle path networks optimized for each approach in the methodology, on the other hand, include completely different routes and offer different perspectives and alternative routes at the point of improving existing bicycle paths.