A review of state-of-the-art vibration analysis in assessing the comfort level of cycling surface quality

Abstract

Bicycling is a mode of transport that is both environmentally friendly and provides numerous health benefits. The bicycle infrastructure should be comfortable and safe to attract more people to use bicycles. A poorly maintained bicycle route pavement creates vibration, which is undesirable for bicyclists because it creates discomfort during the trip. Over the years, bicycle vibration has been used to assess cyclists' comfort. This research presents a detailed overview of the methods that have utilized bicycle vibration to assess the comfort of bicyclists. Data extraction includes identifying the authors, year of publication, location, study design, assessment tool, and data source. Fourteen studies satisfied the inclusion criteria and are considered for analysis. The studies were conducted in various geographical locations, most in Europe. Both objective and mixed methods are used. Objective studies only depend on the sensor data, while mixed approaches also include cyclists' perceptions. The studies used multiple methods to assess the collected data, including Dynamic comfort index (DCI), bicycle comfort mapping, behavioral risk indicator, RMS (Root Mean Square), IRI (International Roughness Index), vibration and visual inspection, BEQI (Bicycle Environmental Quality Index), Cycling Comfort Index (CCI), Dynamic cycling comfort (DCC), surface condition rating-scale and rolling resistance. Studies are increasingly opting to use mobile applications to take advantage of smartphone sensors. Smart bicycle lights are also used as low-cost alternatives to the expensive instrumented probe bicycle.