Increased use of the bicycle is one of the best ways to combat the negative impacts of other persona. According to Fietsberaad (2010), a 10% increase in cycling relieves congestion by 11-15% and according to ECF the total amount of CO2 emission per km per bike is 21gr compared to 271gr by the average car. Given the above, a modal shift from car to bicycle is therefore desirable. Governments therefore seek ways to encourage travellers to take up cycling. ITS improves the safety, reliability, speed, convenience, comfort and experience of cycling. In the B-ITS (Bicycles and ITS) concept the idea is to close the data loop on cycling data and open up these data for cyclists, policy makers and other stakeholders (e.g. app developers or other businesses).
Through applications for cyclists (e.g. interactive/smart traffic lights, nudging apps, smart routing and parking, tracking) cycling will become a more attractive transport mode. At the same time, these ITS applications will generate valuable data, which feeds back directly to cyclist. In addition, these ITS systems will produce data on cyclists and infrastructure utilization, which provides valuable input for cycling policy. Improved policies will then attract more cyclists and generate even more (floating) bike data, thus closing the loop.
B-ITS is a relatively new domain which encompasses all ITS systems and service in the cycling domain, to make it safer, more attractive, more efficient. In this paper we present the Bicycle Pyramid, based on Maslow’s pyramid, and how it can be used to link ITS systems and services to fulfil the cycling needs. This is followed by a description of the challenge to integrate cycling and ITS, and the approach followed in the BITS project, a project focussed on the implementation of ITS in cycling in various European cities.