Denver has an excellent mixed-mode commuting infrastructure(i.e., bike paths and RTD transport) that is vastly underutilized. The Denver biking community flourishes. Traffic congestion in Denver is like any other major US metropolitan area. The goal of this article is to inspire potential commuters, biking industry stakeholders and local government — the mixed-mode commuting service system -- using Denver as a model city. You will learn how to improve your odds for success.
Even if you have little interest in public transportation, you will learn how to design any type of service for a local government, small business or national organization, based on cognitive science (i.e., psychology). Service means both personal and internet services. The psychology in this example is simply about feelings, beliefs and needs.
Most people will not bike more than two miles, which is the lynchpin of this discussion. If you realize that most people will not pedal beyond two miles, you have understood the crux of commuter psychology. Success with mixed-mode commuting beyond a five mile radius requires fitness and mental determination. You might enjoy biking at high speeds for ten or twenty miles, like me, but we are clearly the most obscure minority.
I feel increased connectedness between commuters and the mixed-mode commuting service would significantly increase the percentage of commuters who would regularly bike to work, especially beyond two miles. I do not know the current level, but the 2015 level was about 2%. An increase to 3% is a huge relative improvement. Who would not want their business to increase by 50%?
The National Bike-to-Work day was a huge success in my neighborhood, but the effects lasted for just one day. A well designed, service-orientated web site, combined with strong local support, is a prerequisite to embolden people to bike part of the way to work. The fundamental problem that technology and local support can solve are psychological and social issues. One form of local support is bike shops sponsoring “commute tours”, as well as recreational tours. Keep in mind that the tour should only be a mile or two long. The goal is show people safe and easy routes that may not be found online. Also, explain the amenities available at the destination, like bike lockers and security features.
Just working out a viable route can be a show-stopper for many people, because finding the most desirable route is a lengthy trial-and-error process that will likely discourage most people. If the rider has the wrong equipment, the whole route planning process will end after the first attempt. Basic necessities like clearly marked bike routes are a big hinderance for many people to reach a train station. Adequate bike security at the train station is a obvious human need. If you have any interest in business or personal success, you will push to ensure basic human needs are met. Otherwise, only a tiny percentage of the population will cycle to work.
The effectiveness of a service system can be measured by the connectedness of the components, as illustrated in the following diagram. The diagram answers the following issues:
I live near the Ken Caryl RTD Park-n-Ride station on C470. I pass by the Ken Caryl RTD station on my bike a few times each week, en route to the Mineral Ave RTD station area. My observation is the the parking lot is never used beyond ten percent of its capacity. I have only ever seen a few bicycles or ten cars in the parking lot. In contrast, the Mineral Ave RTD station parking lot often full by 7AM or 8AM. Traffic at the Mineral Ave. and Platte Canyon Rd. intersection, close to the RTD station, is usually very congested by 7AM.
My mother lives close to the Mineral Ave RTD station, so I am very familiar with all the bike paths in that area. The black-and-white discrepancy between the Ken Caryl Ave. and Mineral Ave stations is inexplicable, until you look at the two mile personal biking limit on the map in the next discussion. The awesome C470 bike path connects the two stations through beautiful Chatfield State Park. The nine mile, east-bound direction is an almost entirely gradual downhill incline. RTD also offers bus and a Call-n-Ride shuttle service between the two locations. Numerous shorter, alternative routes are accessible via bus or shuttle along Ken Caryl Ave.
For example, the flat Massey Draw Trail in Wayside Park is midway between the two locations, on the east side of Wadsworth Blvd. A rider of any ability level can progress to higher levels in 2.5 mile increments.
Riding difficulty cannot be the reason why people avoid these bike paths, because any active person can find a suitable route. “Backtracking” is an approach to determining the reasoning by beginning with the outcome. Reversing the order of the system model flowchart, displayed at the top of the article, we create the following reasoning chain:
The Experience and Outcome in my case was excellent, so the Service Designer succeeded in creating value by simply enabling me to enjoy myself. The Service Designer in this case were the government officals involved with creating the bike paths. A Service Designer was also the person who marked the bike path on Google Maps, so I could learn about the opportunity.
How can we quantify feelings?
The Google Maps Traffic feature already color codes traffic congestion for you. Let’s take a step towards statistics, without getting bogged down by technical considerations. A scale from -3 to +3 can mimic standard deviations. I want to avoid any technical discussion of statistics, so no further explanation of standard deviation is provided. Suffice it to say that a scale from -3 to +3 puts you on much firmer statistical ground than a simple scale from +1 to +5 (which is arbitrary).
I prefer to use -3 to +3 for another reason that improves accuracy — ordinary English usage. Almost all adjective pairs can be directly mapped to a -3 to +3 scale, without the need for interpretation or explanation. For example,
A saavy entrepreneur can exploit this information to host events at the most advantageous locations or times.
How can we measure inter-connectedness of the service system to determine the weakest links?
Government studies are very proficient at gathering data. The major problem I see with government studies is a lack of psychological models, like the diagram presented above. I will discuss a Denver report in the next post to illustrate how a model can improve effectiveness. Bicycle industry involvement is a key link that must be included in any study.
I feel the weakest link is the lack of technology services to connect people based on their needs. Cycling is all about efficiency and experience — both mental and physical. Inefficient or inexperienced cyclists suffer and are unlikely to participate without guidance. A great deal of suffering can be avoided by careful route selection. The Google bike path mapping feature is probably more harmful than helpful for inexperienced commuters. Knowing which route to take for different conditions, especially wind or time constraints, is paramount. Knowing how to pedal efficiently with the most appropriate equipment, for different situations, is essential. Traveling in small groups, or pairs, provides huge psychological support.
Some simple tips, like using pedestrian tunnels or bridges to cross intimidating streets, can drastically improve participation. Most people are unaware of where the bike tunnels are located. Pedestrian tunnels and bridges are not explicitly marked on Google maps. Moreover, beginners need to understand the physical mechanics of cycling and bicycles to avoid struggling and discouragement. Cycling is ranked as the eighth toughest sport by Sports Illustrated. Cycling is an activity where all the odds are seriously stacked against an inactive or unprepared novice.
Electric bikes can greatly level the disadvantages, but electric bike selection requires expert knowledge. You can easily waste thousands of dollars on an electric bike that does not meet your needs.
Even if you have little interest in public transportation, you will learn how to design any type of service for a local government, small business or national organization, based on cognitive science (i.e., psychology). Service means both personal and internet services. The psychology in this example is simply about feelings, beliefs and needs.
Most people will not bike more than two miles, which is the lynchpin of this discussion. If you realize that most people will not pedal beyond two miles, you have understood the crux of commuter psychology. Success with mixed-mode commuting beyond a five mile radius requires fitness and mental determination. You might enjoy biking at high speeds for ten or twenty miles, like me, but we are clearly the most obscure minority.
I feel increased connectedness between commuters and the mixed-mode commuting service would significantly increase the percentage of commuters who would regularly bike to work, especially beyond two miles. I do not know the current level, but the 2015 level was about 2%. An increase to 3% is a huge relative improvement. Who would not want their business to increase by 50%?
The National Bike-to-Work day was a huge success in my neighborhood, but the effects lasted for just one day. A well designed, service-orientated web site, combined with strong local support, is a prerequisite to embolden people to bike part of the way to work. The fundamental problem that technology and local support can solve are psychological and social issues. One form of local support is bike shops sponsoring “commute tours”, as well as recreational tours. Keep in mind that the tour should only be a mile or two long. The goal is show people safe and easy routes that may not be found online. Also, explain the amenities available at the destination, like bike lockers and security features.
Just working out a viable route can be a show-stopper for many people, because finding the most desirable route is a lengthy trial-and-error process that will likely discourage most people. If the rider has the wrong equipment, the whole route planning process will end after the first attempt. Basic necessities like clearly marked bike routes are a big hinderance for many people to reach a train station. Adequate bike security at the train station is a obvious human need. If you have any interest in business or personal success, you will push to ensure basic human needs are met. Otherwise, only a tiny percentage of the population will cycle to work.
The effectiveness of a service system can be measured by the connectedness of the components, as illustrated in the following diagram. The diagram answers the following issues:
- Which features should be included or excluded from a service?
- Which entities need to implement specific features?
- How to capture the inter-connectedness of the system to identify the weak links.
- How to model social and psychological aspects to ensure success.
- How to specify and quantify a mental process.
For example, the flat Massey Draw Trail in Wayside Park is midway between the two locations, on the east side of Wadsworth Blvd. A rider of any ability level can progress to higher levels in 2.5 mile increments.
Riding difficulty cannot be the reason why people avoid these bike paths, because any active person can find a suitable route. “Backtracking” is an approach to determining the reasoning by beginning with the outcome. Reversing the order of the system model flowchart, displayed at the top of the article, we create the following reasoning chain:
- Outcome
- Experience
- Behavior
- Reluctance
- Persuasion
- Tendency to Participate
- Reluctance
- Perception Filter
- Role-based
- Cognitive
- Feelings
- Enjoyment
- Distance Estimation
- Less than two miles?
- Feelings
- Social
- Image
- Feature
- Avoid traffic
- Reduce costs
- Exercise on bike
- Proximity parking
- Internet image
The Experience and Outcome in my case was excellent, so the Service Designer succeeded in creating value by simply enabling me to enjoy myself. The Service Designer in this case were the government officals involved with creating the bike paths. A Service Designer was also the person who marked the bike path on Google Maps, so I could learn about the opportunity.
How can we quantify feelings?
The Google Maps Traffic feature already color codes traffic congestion for you. Let’s take a step towards statistics, without getting bogged down by technical considerations. A scale from -3 to +3 can mimic standard deviations. I want to avoid any technical discussion of statistics, so no further explanation of standard deviation is provided. Suffice it to say that a scale from -3 to +3 puts you on much firmer statistical ground than a simple scale from +1 to +5 (which is arbitrary).
I prefer to use -3 to +3 for another reason that improves accuracy — ordinary English usage. Almost all adjective pairs can be directly mapped to a -3 to +3 scale, without the need for interpretation or explanation. For example,
- Worst(-3),
- Worse(-2),
- Bad(-1)
- Ambivalence(0)
- Good(+1),
- Better(+2)
- Best(+3)
A saavy entrepreneur can exploit this information to host events at the most advantageous locations or times.
How can we measure inter-connectedness of the service system to determine the weakest links?
Government studies are very proficient at gathering data. The major problem I see with government studies is a lack of psychological models, like the diagram presented above. I will discuss a Denver report in the next post to illustrate how a model can improve effectiveness. Bicycle industry involvement is a key link that must be included in any study.
I feel the weakest link is the lack of technology services to connect people based on their needs. Cycling is all about efficiency and experience — both mental and physical. Inefficient or inexperienced cyclists suffer and are unlikely to participate without guidance. A great deal of suffering can be avoided by careful route selection. The Google bike path mapping feature is probably more harmful than helpful for inexperienced commuters. Knowing which route to take for different conditions, especially wind or time constraints, is paramount. Knowing how to pedal efficiently with the most appropriate equipment, for different situations, is essential. Traveling in small groups, or pairs, provides huge psychological support.
Some simple tips, like using pedestrian tunnels or bridges to cross intimidating streets, can drastically improve participation. Most people are unaware of where the bike tunnels are located. Pedestrian tunnels and bridges are not explicitly marked on Google maps. Moreover, beginners need to understand the physical mechanics of cycling and bicycles to avoid struggling and discouragement. Cycling is ranked as the eighth toughest sport by Sports Illustrated. Cycling is an activity where all the odds are seriously stacked against an inactive or unprepared novice.
Electric bikes can greatly level the disadvantages, but electric bike selection requires expert knowledge. You can easily waste thousands of dollars on an electric bike that does not meet your needs.
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