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II. NEEDS ANALYSIS <br /> Bikeways, like streets and sidewalks, are used by a wide range of people -- children riding to <br /> school, commuters riding to work, people exercising, racing, or touring. The needs analysis <br /> takes into account the different user groups to design a comprehensive bicycle system that <br /> • <br /> meets their needs in San Leandro. <br /> Related to the user groups mentioned above is trip purpose, which helps identify common <br /> needs among the groups. In general, all bicycle trips can be broken down into recreational <br /> (including all discretionary trips) or commuter (whether to work or school). The biggest <br /> difference between these two groups is that while recreation riders may be interested in routes <br /> leading to parks or other areas of interest, commuters are interested in the shortest and safest <br /> route between two points. These two basic trip purposes will be addressed in detail later. <br /> 2.1 Needs <br /> This section defines recreation and commute bicycle trips and identifies possible major <br /> destination points. These steps would guide the type and routing of the bikeway system. <br /> Before examining the two user groups, this section first addresses the existing bicycle demand <br /> at'the Citywide - level. Demographic data were used to project Citywide bicycle demand if a <br /> properly designed bicycle system were in place. <br /> A May 1991 Lou Harris Poll reported that "...nearly 3 million adults —about one in 60-- already <br /> commute by bike. This number could rise to 35 million if more bicycle friendly transportation <br /> systems existed." The demand for bicycle facilities is difficult to measure not just on specific <br /> segments, but even at the local or regional level. Unlike automobile use, where historical trip <br /> generation studies for different types of land uses allow an estimate of future travel demand, no <br /> such methodology exists for bicycles. A common term associated with the level of bicycle <br /> activity is "mode split ". Mode split refers to the breakdown of the different means of <br /> transportation people choose. The choice may be walking, bicycling, using transit, or driving. <br /> Mode split is often used in assessing commuter alternatives, such as bicycling, where the <br /> objective is to increase the split, or percentage, of people selecting an alternative commute <br /> 22 <br />