Localizzazione ottimale degli stalli per il parcheggio delle biciclette: il caso studio della città di Palermo - Optimal location for bike parking lots: the case study of the old town in Palermo

The lack of parking spaces for bicycles is one of the main issues that many cities face. A proper planning of a bike station network is necessary in order to optimize the whole urban system and the transport supply. In this work a step-by-step analysis is proposed to find the best location for the bicycle lots in the old town of Palermo. The optimization method includes the use of both a Set Covering Model and a Maximum Coverage Location Problem. The dataset for the simulations was collected by direct and indirect surveys on the population and implemented into Open source GIS software. In particular, data on the destinations, times and distances covered by the bicycles’ users were included. Finally, a cost-benefit analysis was made after a sizing phase of the lots. The proposed methodology can be applied to other contexts without loss of generality. It can also be used for the ex-post evaluation of an already existing network.