PONE-D-20-02887

Road lighting density and brightness linked with increased cycling rates after-dark

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

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The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The paper explores whether road lighting can reduce the negative impact of

darkness on cycling rates. The issue studied is relevant, the methods are generally adequate and the findings have the potential to inform policy in this area. However, there are a number of issues that need to be addressed to strengthen the manuscript.

The aim/objectives need to be stated clearly at the end of the introduction. Hypotheses ought to be listed at the end of introduction and not in the methods.

Similarly, the statements about the use of more precise quantitative definitions

of lighting (lantern density and relative brightness) at the end of the introduction need to be moved to the methods.

In the methods, justification for choosing (22:00-22:59) as opposed for example to (21:00-21:59), which is also I assume dark throughout the year, is needed.

A segmentation of the analysis by areas/roads that are popular with cyclists vs those that are less popular would be useful to partly address at least one of the limitations discussed by the authors.

Reviewer #2: This is a clear and well-written paper. My initial questions about potential other factors which could influence cycling at night and be correlated with lighting levels were satisfactorily addressed in the paper. I assume that the effects of daylight saving (and any potential changes across years in start/end dates) were dealt with.

I wasn't sure why only one case hour was chosen. Why wasn't a morning case hour used as well? If this was done, and similar results were found for the two case hours, that would be supportive evidence.

It would be interesting for the authors to discuss (or note) the issue of whether the low level of lighting needed to encourage riding in the dark would be sufficient to allow safe cycling. It might not be a good idea to encourage riding that was objectively high risk.

A second minor issue is that the authors make the point that cycling is good for climate because it saves energy. Is there a trade-off, then, if more energy needs to be used for lighting in order to increase cycling?

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Narelle Haworth

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Road lighting density and brightness linked with increased cycling rates after-dark

PONE-D-20-02887R1

Dear Dr. Uttley,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you will receive an e-mail containing information on the amendments required prior to publication. When all required modifications have been addressed, you will receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will proceed to our production department and be scheduled for publication.

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With kind regards,

Quan Yuan, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

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Reviewer #2: Yes: Narelle Haworth