Evaluating cycling behaviour of Millennials in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Policy background and research rationale The objectives of this research are to explore non-situational barriers to utility cycling (Aldred 2014), such as perceptions of cycling and cyclists, as these relate to identity formation in the 18 to 25 age group. This paper reports on the findings from the first stage only of a three-phase, three-year research project. It is planned that as each stage is completed the results will be reported with a final publication of overall results following the final phase. A comprehensive literature review will be undertaken for the phase two publications with this paper simply including an initial review of a limited range of literature. Therefore, this paper should be seen as an outline of the research project plan and a discussion of the preliminary findings related to phase one. Therefore, this paper represents a single element of a wider work-in-progress. We hope to use our findings to help practitioners responsible for encouraging cycling understand the non-situation barriers to cycling amongst our target group and, as a result, to design more effective social marketing communications to support their aims. We therefore see our research as practitioner oriented with a focus on the future of cycling in the UK. In 2014 the UK Government drew up a plan to invest £214m to promote cycling, David Cameron's so called 'cycling revolution' (Deputy Prime Minister's Office, 2014), to address such issues as sustainability, obesity, the nation's health, emissions targets, road safety and congestion (Department for Transport [DfT] (2010). The Government has also made a strong economic case for increased cycling, citing a positive benefit-to-cost ratio of around 5:1 (Department for Transport, 2015). There is evidence to suggest that following long-term decline more people are now cycling (Paton, 2015), but this increase is largely due to the 'Bradley Wiggins effect' (Gupta, 2012) and the rise of the MAMIL (largely Middle-Aged, and largely Men, In Lycra). The challenge, therefore, is to get more non-cyclists to cycle and to mobilise a larger proportion of the population (British Cycling, 2015). If the Government's targets are to be achieved, it is adolescents and young adults who will ultimately need to replace aging MAMILs. However, the age range 15 to 25 years is when young people typically turn their backs on physical activity, with their time often dominated by technology instead of physical activity (Sport England, 2014). Research already points to a range of situational barriers to cycling, such as infrastructure, traffic volumes and cost (Pooley, 2011) and how cycling and cyclists behaviour is perceived by other road users (DfT, 2002) and by cyclists (Aldred, 2010), but there is limited research exploring less tangible concerns, such as how cyclists and cycling are perceived in terms of identity formation relating to the individual (personal development, personal identity) and groups (culture formation, social identity) within the broad theoretical domain of consumer culture theory. Perceptions that are held of people, institutions, products and activities – and especially of peers and reference groups-are important to young adults, and we believe that unless cycling can be seen as both attractive and aspirational, efforts to increase participation amongst young adults will be hampered. Here we outline our plans based on three distinct phases, designed, iteratively, to explore the pertinent socio-cultural domain. We have secured seed-corn funding for the first of these phases, and in this paper we report on the findings from some initial qualitative data collection.

2017

This master thesis completes our two year Master's degree in Sustainable Cities at Aalborg University Copenhagen, School of Architecture, Design and Planning. The master thesis is written in the period from February to June 2017. Our interests in sustainable modes of transport have been inspired in the last two years. The bicycle has been a common interest as this mode of transport has positive effects, such as health, economy and less space demanding than cars. We are both born and raised in Norway, where the bike infrastructure is not as developed as Copenhagen. The opportunity and experience to move and live in a city where almost everyone is bicycling made us realise the importance of a welldeveloped bike infrastructure in future cities all over the world. Thank you, Alexander Bettinardi and Susan Peithman in ODOT for the interview and for sharing experience with your use of Strava Metro data with us. A sincere thank you to Brian Riordan and the Strava Metro team for collecting and delivering Strava cyclist data for Copenhagen in April 2017. We want to thank our student colleagues, Emil and Francesco, for giving us an introduction to Qgis when working with the Strava Metro data. We really appreciate your patience and the knowledge you shared with us, which enabled us to investigate the Strava data. We will also like to thank our family and friends for extra motivation when we needed the most. Finally we will dedicate a sincere thank you to the ten voluntary participants in our Mapping Experiment. Without all of you, the substance in our thesis would not have been the same.

Universitas Psychologica, 2016

This work presents the results of a qualitative study of the rating of the bicycle as the transport mode to travel to the workplace. Twenty-one semistructured interviews were performed in two Spanish cities, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Madrid, with different cycling infrastructures and percentages of bicycle usage. The results were categorized and interpreted within the framework of the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991). The results indicate that the bicycle is considered a reliable and flexible transport mode in instrumental terms, and that providing objective information about its advantages could increase its attraction for non-cyclists. Other intrinsic benefits, such as its effects on physical fitness, are highly valued. The benefits of bicycle usage on the environment do not seem to be aspects that directly motivate its use. These symbolic beliefs contribute to its revaluation as a transport mode, and may increase the acceptance of public policies favoring it. The analysis also shows a prototypical image of the cyclist as a young, active, and socially aware person. The perception of risk of accidents is the main obstacle for non-cyclists, but not among riders. The latter make internal attributions about their personal safety, choosing routes with less traffic, riding the bicycle in a safer way. Control beliefs distinguish between beliefs associated with external factors (like infrastructure and other measures provided by public bodies to increase cycling) and those attributed to internal factors (perception of self-efficacy in the face of drawbacks, clothing, climatology, or insecurity). Presenting these coping strategies to people contemplating the possibility of cycling can increase their motivation. These results may be particularly useful when designing measurement instruments that take these differences of perception of control into account. Keywords cycling; qualitative research; attitudes; planned behavior model * Artículo de investigación. This article has been funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain. National R&D+i Plan. Period: 01/01/2011-31/12/2013.

Journal of Transport Geography, 2021

There is limited evidence on the gender differences and location-specific built-environment factors associated with bicycling in Latin American cities. This study aimed to assess commuting in Bogotá by (1) analyzing the gender-specific trend of the standardized number of bicycle commuters during 2005-2017; and (2) assessing the socio-demographic, community, built-environment and natural factors associated with bicycle commuting stratified by gender. This secondary-data analysis included data from the Household Travel Surveys and Multipurpose Surveys to calculate the number of bicycle commuters per habitant from 2005 to 2017 by gender. We assessed the socio-demographic and built-environment factors fitting generalized additive models stratified by gender using the 2015 Household Travel Survey. Although both women and men increased the standardized number of bicycle commuters, male commuters show a steeper trend than women, evidencing the widening gender gap in bicycle commuting over time. Bicycle commuting was negatively associated with household motor vehicle ownership, steeper terrain slope, longer commute distance, and scarce low-stress roads at trip origin and route. Among women, the availability of bike paths at the trip destination was positively associated with bicycling, while age and being a student were negatively associated with bicycling. Among men, living in areas with the lowest socioeconomic status was positively associated with bicycling, while having a driver's license and living close to bus rapid transit stations were negatively associated with bicycling. In conclusion, bicycle and transport infrastructure play different roles in commuting by bicycle by gender and trip stages (originroutedestination). ☆ This study was approved by the Ethics Committee at Universidad de Los Andes (Acta No.806-2017).

EasyChair Preprints

Over the past 40 years, the number of people using bicycles as their primary means of transportation has increased significantly. Transportation agencies around the world now promote bicycling as a way to reduce pollution and traffic congestion. However, the lack of bicycling infrastructure in many cities could significantly impede the future growth of bicycle usage. This paper used a web survey to evaluate the attitudes and preferences of bicyclists in two cities: Lexington, Kentucky, USA and Catania, Sicily, Italy. The goal of the survey was to document impediments to bicycling in both cities, determine how infrastructure could be improved, and identify features of smartphone app to aid bicyclists in route selection. Descriptive statistics and test of hypothesis were applied to the survey data to analyze participant responses and their level of agreement. Confirming previous research, respondents in both cities overwhelmingly cited lack of infrastructure as a major obstacle to bic...

International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 2016

The use and purchase of electric bicycles (e-bikes) is emerging in many countries. Existing knowledge about changes in cycling patterns and car replacement after gaining e-bike access is limited and partly contradictory. Based on an online survey among e-bike users in Denmark (N = 427), this study looked into these effects by differentiating between different segments of e-bike users. We distinguished four age groups as well as three segments based on cycling attitudes and motives for the use and purchase of e-bikes: (1) enthusiastic e-bikers who showed the most positive attitudes towards e-bikes and mainly bought an e-bike to increase cycling frequency; (2) utilitarian e-bikers who already cycled regularly before having access to an e-bike and used the e-bike particularly for practical purposes and to reduce travel time; (3) recreational e-bikers who were very positive about e-bike use but used it less regularly and mainly for long-distance recreational trips. Enthusiastic e-bikers reported the highest increase in overall cycling. Half of the enthusiastic e-bikers agreed that they bought the e-bike to replace a car. Differences between the four age groups were less pronounced. Nevertheless, we found that e-bike access decreased age differences in self-reported cycling frequency, whereas it increased differences in selfreported distances. Measures to increase e-bike use should primarily focus on potential

Sustainability

Cycling constitutes a clean, healthy, and low-cost mode of transport. Therefore, the promotion of cycling is currently one of the main goals of administrations around the word. Former studies have shown that safety perception plays a fundamental role in the acceptance of bikes as a habitual mode of transport. In this context, this research aims to determine which variables and actions can give rise to this feeling of safety and, therefore, collaborate in the modal shift towards a more sustainable mobility. For this purpose, different strategies have been developed in two different contexts, Helsinki and Barcelona, using two different methodologies, namely expert interviews and analysis of survey data. Particularly, the methodology of analysis used includes descriptive statistics and path analysis. Results point out that safety perception highly depends on trip purpose, as significant differences are observed for daily users compared to those who cycle for sport reasons. Demographic ...

Sustainability

Cycling as a mode of transport is a low-cost, health-improving way to travel and offers environmental benefits for the cities that promote it. It is only recently, though, with concerns over climate change, pollution, congestion, and obesity among others, that have cities throughout the world have begun to implement policies to promote cycling. In Greece, however, the use of the bicycle is limited. In Preveza, a small touristic city in Northwestern Greece where the use of the bicycle is prominent when compared to other Greek cities, there are efforts to promote cycling. Through the aid of a structured questionnaire, the residents evaluated the suitability of the city for cycling, the existing infrastructure, appropriate education, and behavior of cyclists and drivers. More than half of the residents use bicycles as their transportation and stated that bicycles are an inexpensive way of transport in the city and had the opinion that the state should encourage bicycle use by supporting subvention in bicycle acquisition. Two-thirds of the residents evaluated the cycling facilities of their city as adequate, but unsafe for young cyclists who do not follow the rules of transport. Adult cyclists, in contrast, were more loyal to the code, but stated that drivers did not respect their presence on the roads. This research provides important information on the perceived shortcomings of cycling as a transport mode in Preveza that may be of interest to towns/cities with similar characteristics.

2018

Nowadays, mid-sized cities can achieve descent level of sustainable mobility through a balanced scheme where technological measures and revised transporting behaviour coexist harmonically. The key challenge for sustainable mobility is the modal shift to walking and cycling on a city level, leaving behind car use. Bicycle is a very flexible mean of transport which can roll on roads, sidewalks, pedestrian walkways, parks and squares. In case of tangible obstacles, like external stairs, the cyclist becomes pedestrian and carries his bike. Xanthi is a mid-sized city in Northern Greece. The traffic could be relieved from cars if a network of bicycle-paths is constructed using a ring-like scheme. More initiatives towards locomotions with bicycle must be planned by local authorities, including the sharing of public owned bicycles. In the city, the transportation infrastructure quality and moving-associated attitudes are strongly related. Neighbourhoods with no public transportation, walkways or cycling paths force households towards car use. Consequently, there is a need for coordinated decision making towards a " new thinking " based on concepts of environment protection along with the people's well-being. Planners, engineers and economists need to work in partnership with business associations to measure and monitor amendments, in an objective manner, with appropriate scale analysis. Bicycle sharing system is proposed to be implemented by the Municipality of Xanthi. The idea is based on the high numbers of university students and training young athletes needing to move during various times in the day on relatively short courses.

International journal of production management and engineering, 2020

The European Union, its member states and local authorities have been working for long time on the design of solutions for future sustainable mobility. The promotion of a sustainable and affordable urban transport contemplates the bicycle as a mean of transport. The reasons for analysing the cycling mobility in urban areas, has its origin in the confrontation with motorized vehicles, as a sustainable response to the environment. In this context of sustainable mobility, the research team has studied the use of bicycles in Mediterranean cities, specifically in coastal tourist areas. The present work shows the development of a mobility index oriented to the bicycle, transport that competes with the private vehicle. By means of a survey methodology, the research group proceeded to collect field data and the subsequent analysis of them, for the development of a mobility index adapted to bicycle mobility, and with possibilities to adapt to urban environments.