Rethinking Street Design for Cycling Safety
A mixed-methods analysis of hhazardous road locations, recurring accident patterns, and Austrian cycling guidelines in Vienna
D. Bögner (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Y. Yuan – Mentor (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)
Karin Peters – Mentor (Wageningen University & Research)
J.A. Annema – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management)
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Abstract
Cycling is increasingly promoted as a mode of active mobility, especially in urban areas, because it supports climate, health, and liveability goals. In Austria, this promotion has been successful, with cycling increasing significantly in recent years. However, cyclist safety has not improved at the same pace. While most other modes of transport have become safer, the number of accidents involving cyclists has increased by 81 percent over the last twelve years. This suggests that factors contributing to cyclist accidents are still not sufficiently understood, especially regarding street infrastructure and its design.
This thesis examines this problem through hazardous road locations in Vienna. It asks how street characteristics at these locations influence cyclist safety and what this implies for the further development of Austrian cycling guidelines. A sequential mixed-methods design was used, combining Getis-Ord Gi* hot spot analysis of police-reported cyclist accident data from 2022 to 2024 with a qualitative analysis of selected locations. The quantitative analysis identified 91 hazardous road locations, of which 13 were selected as representative cases for different accident groups and assessed against the current RVS Bicycle Traffic.
The results show that many hazardous road locations have recurring accident patterns. These patterns were often connected to intersections, street layout and space allocation, public transport-related conflict points, and visibility conditions. The thesis shows that the RVS already provides a strong basis for safe cycling infrastructure, but that some criteria need to become clearer, more measurable, and more binding to better address recurring cyclist accident patterns.