Designing road markings

I am someone who frequently asks the question "Why?" about the design of everyday objects, because of the interplay between design and operational research. On my way to the office today, I noticed that one of the advanced stop lines for cyclists seemed much larger than others that I encounter. So I asked myself "Why is it that size?" and then speculated about the optimal size for such a road marking.

The wonders of Google led me to a website from the UK Department for Transport, which says that the "cycle reservoir should be between 4m and 5m in depth. If the reservoir is shallower than this cyclists can feel intimidated by the close proximity of the vehicles queuing behind them. If the reservoir is deeper than this, motorists may feel encouraged to encroach into it." So the design is based on psychology, which links to some of my earlier blogs here. It is reassuring that someone has thought about the design and suggested guideline measurements.

So if you see me around Exeter with a 4metre tape measure, you will know that I am checking the roads!

Operational Reesearch and the urban cyclist

I am committed to cycling as a sensible means of transport, even though my own cycling has not been completely accident-free. The other day I was musing on whether there is much literature about O.R. and cycling. And then I heard about eBourbaki, which describes itself as "a mathematical problem-solving company" (no mention of O.R.!) and the competition that had been run to model cycle-hire facilities in London. Readers of "OR/MS Today" will have seen that one of the political conventions modeled the location of cycle-loan facilities in 2008. eBourbaki run their problems as competitions, and the winners created two mathematical models with one describing commuter flow and the other examining the possible configuration of any bicycle stations.

It is to be hoped that the city will work with the winners and consider using their solutions and models in the network design.

The models suggested that, for a London-based scheme to be successful, 12 large bicycle stations should be placed near railway stations in central London with 250 smaller stations distributed throughout the West End and the City of London. An average of 20 bikes per small station was found to be the most efficient number.