Cycling for Home-to-School Travel in Palermo: A Method for Assessing the Optimal Allocation of New Cycling Infrastructure

In order to reduce the number of cars on the road, one of the most incisive actions is to encourage cycling, e.g. through the introduction of bike-sharing systems. In particular, the activation of special bike-sharing programs for school students could lead students to choose this mode of transport to make their own home-school travel. The success of such initiatives is primarily linked to the presence of a continuous and functional cycle network, which can create safe routes to school. It is, therefore, necessary a cycle network design model that allows determining the optimal allocation of new cycle paths, maximizing the number of users and considering technical and economic constraints. As a case study, the city of Palermo has been chosen; in fact, the Go2School project, a bike-sharing initiative aimed at students of four high schools, has been launched in Palermo.