Bicycle Commuting: Design of a Device to Increase Female Ridership in Atlanta Using V2V Technology

Abstract

Statistics indicate that there is a significant discrepancy between the amount of males and the amount of females who choose to commute by bicycle to work. Of all bicycle-commuting trips to work within Atlanta, 78% of all trips are made by men and 22% are made by women. This is on par with the national statistic of men outnumbering female bicycle commuters 3 to 1. Previous studies have shown that female cyclists are more sensitive to dangers than male cyclists. This project looks into the underlying concerns of female cyclists and seeks to allay fear in riding in the city. The result is Bicyclist Awareness System (BAS), a system of components designed, utilizing vehicle-to vehicle technology (V2V), to create a relationship between drivers and nearby cyclists.