Improving urban bicycle network planning: evidence from a survey and TOPSIS analysis in Tashkent

Cycling is increasingly acknowledged as a strategic instrument for sustainable urban mobility, withsubstantial evidence demonstrating its capacity to alleviate traffic congestion, curb greenhouse gasemissions, and reduce healthcare burdens when adopted as a functional transport mode rather than arecreational add-on. Despite such global validation, bicycle transport remains marginal in post-Sovietcities like Tashkent, where infrastructural and governance deficiencies — rather than cultural resistance— continue to constrain adoption. This study combines two complementary strands of evidence: (i) asimulated behavioural survey of 2,000 respondents assessing perceived barriers and willingness to shift,and (ii) a TOPSIS-based multi-criteria appraisal of alternative network configurations. Survey resultsidentify perceived crash risk (58%), network fragmentation (22%) and insufficient end-of-trip facilities(13%) as the principal deterrents, while 64% of current or potential users report readiness to increasecycling if protected infrastructure is provided. Consistent with this behavioural signal, the TOPSISranking (A3 > A2 > A1) indicates that a fully protected and continuous network most closelyapproximates the ideal policy solution. Collectively, the findings demonstrate that cycling suppressionin developing-city contexts is structurally mediated and therefore reversible through targeted networkdesign and policy action, offering both empirical and decision-analytic justification for cycling upgradesin Tashkent-type environments.

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