Bicycle / Cycling

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Cycle Facility, Cycle Path, Bicycling, Cycle Touring, Cyclist

Category

Transport Facilities, Sports, Sporting Activities, Activities, Recreation, Tourism, Road Signs

Message / Function

To indicate the location of cycle facilities and the activity of cycling

	Source	Description
	O'80	Side view of human figure riding on a racing bike
	O'72	Side view of human figure riding on a racing bike
	O'64	Side view of human figure riding on a racing bike
	Dutchicon	Side view of human figure with aerodynamic helmet in aerodynamic posture, racing bike indicated by two circles
	O'96	Side view of human figure riding on a racing bike
	CNIS	Side view of human figure riding on a racing bike
	Québec	Side view of human figure riding on a bicycle
	SSRS	Side view of human figure riding cycle
	DER	Side view of human figure riding cycle
	ÖNORM A 3011	Side view of human figure riding cycle
	ISO 7001	Side view of human figure wearing safety helmet, riding cycle
	BTA 1989	Side view of human figure riding cycle
	Handbuch wien.gv.at	Side view of human figure riding cycle, horizontal line below
	SIS	Side view of human figure wearing safety helmet, riding cycle
	Pierce	Side view of human figure riding cycle, bicycle shown as two circles only
	OÖ Touristik	Side view of human figure riding cycle, bicycle shown as two circles only
	Erco	Side view of human figure riding cycle, bicycle shown as two circles only
	DER	Rear or front view of human figure riding bicycle
	Argentina MSV	Side view of racing bicycle
	O'68	Side view of racing bicycle
	ÖNORM A 3011	Side view of bicycle
	France IISR	Side view of bicycle
	SWISSTRAFFIC	Side view of bicycle
	SVI	Side view of bicycle
	Aragón	Side view of bicycle
	Tern	Side view of bicycle
	BVG	Side view of bicycle
	BVG	Side view of ladies' bicycle
	Museu Blau	Side view of bicycle
	Plastiroute	Side view of bicycle
	BTA 1989	Side view of bicycle
	Peru 2016	Side view of bicycle
	JCU	Side view of bicycle
	Handbuch wien.gv.at	Side view of bicycle
	Eco-Mo Foundation	Side view of bicycle
	Swiss Post	Side view of front part of a bicycle with headlight
	Pacific Bell	Side view of front part of a bicycle
	StVO 2012	Detailed side view of bicycle on blue ground
	GTS	Side view of bicycle on blue ground

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

The examples shown above are only a small selection from the wide range of pictograms and symbols for Bicycle and Cycling that can be found as public information symbols and traffic signs in guiding systems worldwide.

The collection illustrates that only two concepts are dominating:

the side view of a human figure riding cycle
the side view of a bicycle

Differences concern primarily the number of details shown, but the concepts stay the same. Some variants like the IPS and the Erco versions are very minimalistic, showing just the human figure placed between two circles. The BVG variants by Meta Design Berlin were developed to avoid discrimination as most bicycle signs just depict models for men, but according to Abdullah & Hübner (2006) finally a unisex pictogram was preferred. Side views of human figures riding on racing bikes primarily are from the area of sports, especially Summer Olympic Games.

In our research we noticed that test results available for Bicycle and Cycling in our database are regarding a few pictograms only, but still deliver some insights:

Comprehension Test results (Brugger, 1979) indicate that pictograms showing a human figure riding cycle elicit more responses concerning the activity of cycling, while variants showing just the bicycle also call forth associations like 'Cycles for Hire' and 'Bike Parking Area'.

In another Comprehension Test conducted in Japan, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation proved to be well comprehensible with a comprehension score of 94.6, even though the bicycle displayed is simplified quite a bit (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001).

A side view of a bicycle on blue ground similar to the two signs at the bottom of the table above was examined in research that investigated comprehensibility of 100 international road signs (Ward et al., 2004). With 92 % correct answers this sign was listed among the road signs with the highest comprehension scores. In the research reported for Bicycle Path by Shinar et al. (2003), less than 10 % of the responses were classified as perfectly correct, but partial identifications reported are above 80 %. An interesting result is reported for a variant showing a bicycle on white ground inside a red circle, supposed to convey the message No Cycling: 92 % of the respondents did not interpret the red circle as prohibition and only 4 % answered correctly.

When Fiori (2008) examined a map symbol similar to the version labled CNIS, only 75.4 % of the responses were classified as correct. Maybe the answer Velodrome, which was quite frequent, was judged as incorrect. It seems that showing a human figure on a racing bike is too specific for signifying Bicycle or Cycling in general.

Considering all research results available, one may conclude that for most pictograms showing a side view of a bicycle, the bicycle probably is identified as such, but the interpretation of the message not always will turn out as expected.

Tests of pictograms of referent Bicycle / Cycling / Bicycle Path

Brugger, Ch. (1979): Abschlußbericht über den Erkennungstest. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated 09/79, Vienna.

Eco-Mo Foundation (2001): Test data of public information symbols in Japan - Procedure for the testing of public information symbols by the Study Committee. ISO: ISO/TC 145/SC 1 N 329.

Fiori, S. R. (2008): Mapas para o turismo e a interatividade - proposta teórica e prática. Tese de Doutorado - Depto. de Geografia, FFLCH-USP.

Shinar, D., Dewar, R., Summala, H. & Zakowska, L. (2003): Traffic sign symbol comprehension: A cross-cultural study. Ergonomics, 46, 1549-1565.

Ward, S., Wogalter, M., & Mercer, A. (2004): Comprehension and Training of International Road Signs. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. 48. 10.1177/154193120404801705