Model Suite for Mass Cycling as a Service Simulation  

The average trip length in Swiss cities is under 14km, with around 60% of trips below 6km. Despite the potential for healthier, more sustainable alternatives, nearly half of the total distance traveled is by car. Bicycles play a key role in recent initiatives (e.g. E-Bike City project from ETH Zurich) aimed at building sustainable, vibrant future cities. However, bicycles are still seen by transportation experts and users as a complementary mode to cars. There is limited understanding of how mass cycling impacts traffic efficiency and transport operations due to several reasons:

• Insufficient infrastructure capacity for bicycles to be a primary mode for short and medium distances.
• Lack of real-world observations to reveal cyclists’ behavior, i.e., lateral and longitudinal dynamics, safety perception, reaction time, anticipation, and decision-making. 
• Absence of comprehensive simulation frameworks with realistic models to provide quantifiable data on generalized studies on cycling path capacity, reductions in emissions noise and congestion as well as feasibility for mixed traffic (cars and bicycles).

BikeZ aims to shift the bicycles from a side mode to the primary choice for short and medium distances, exploiting insights from the ETH E-Bike City project. BikeZ envisions a future where cycling infrastructure is significantly expanded. Over 18 months BikeZ will build on outputs from the ETH E-Bike City project and the ETH Mass-Cycling experimental campaign and will; a) conduct 3 additional scenarios with drone experiments to gain in-depth insights into cyclists’ behaviors and decision-making process, b) develop a comprehensive Model Suite with an API for integration in simulation software packages to enable simulation of mass bicycle traffic, c) carry out a case study in Zurich to quantify the impact of mass cycling on congestion, emissions and energy consumption under reallocated infrastructure.

03.2025 - 09.2026

• Innosuisse