Institute for Transport StudiesFACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Institute for Transport StudiesFACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

What people think:

explaining urban cycling

Dr Ann Jopson (a.f.jopson@its.leeds.ac.uk)

Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds

METRO 3rd December 2013

• Why people cycle – the reasons people gave

• Barriers to cycling – the barriers people identified

– Including the influence of others, especially children

• The biggest factors explaining intentions to cycle and actual

cycling

• Policy conclusions

Results from case study surveys:

outline of presentation

Why people do/do not cycle

• 25% cycle once a week or more

– Top 3 reasons for cycling (the cake!)

• Health, fitness and wellbeing (including that of children)

• Save money

• Preferred means of transport

• 50% never cycle

– Top 3 reasons for NOT cycling

• Not safe

• No bike (storage for it and kit at home + cost can be barriers)

• [Bad] weather (is it always that bad?)

Personal norms and cycling

• 72% (strongly) agree they should cycle to be

environmentally friendly (the icing on the cake!)

• 71% (strongly) agree they should cycle to be healthy

• 69% (strongly) agree they should cycle to save money

Barriers to cycling:

the influence of others

• Respondents sometimes or often unable to cycle because a

significant other thinks they …

– … will be involved in an accident – 32%

– … will be attacked - 23%

• Respondents sometimes or often unable to cycle because

they need to drive to give a lift to …

– … a child – 53%

– … an older person – 38% (we often think of child escort, but in the

context of an aging society…)

Cycling and children

• Often do not cycle as travelling with child(ren)…

– …74% agree they would not feel comfortable taking child(ren) in a

trailer, child-seat or trailer-bike

– …50% agree they would not feel comfortable with child(ren) riding

their own bike (even with them accompanying the child)

– …36% strongly agree or agree it would be too far for child(ren) to

cycle

• 39% make journeys by bike to take children for a ride

Barriers to cycling:

trip chaining

• 60% trip chain once a week or more

• The need to trip chain prevents cycling for all or some of the

trip chains made for 82%

• The journeys most often combined in a trip chain are:

– Commute to work + shops (30% of trip chains)

– Commute to work + school/day care run (18%)

– Shops + personal business (PB; 8%) (TOTAL: 56%)

– These journey purposes also feature in the next 5 categories of trip

chain, accounting for a further 34% of trip chains (TOTAL: 90% of trip

chains include these journeys).

Explaining cycling in Leeds

• Leeds cycling– 48% of intention to make cycle trips (or not) in local area explained…

– …by control factors [safety], personal norms and social norms (in that

order)

– 51% of behaviour (number of cycle journeys per week) explained…

– …by intentions and control factors (in that order)

• Similar results in other cities

– But explained greater % of intentions and behaviour

Measures to facilitate cycling need to:

• Provide infrastructure such that people have the opportunity to

successfully (inc’ safely and quickly) make everyday journeys by bike

– Segregated cycle lanes especially important to facilitate cycling

– Cyclists have the right to use the road like other users, but for many potential

cyclists having their own space in which they feel safe was more important

than exercising rights.

• Market cycling such that it becomes a normal way of getting around

– Increase flexible working/working at home to reduce time pressure and need

to drive children to … to be at work by 9/930am

– Demonstrate that cycling is safe (accidents and personal security) such that

views of significant others are not a barrier to cycling

• Secure cycle storage is part of ensuring personal security – the bike will

be there to get you home

• And segregated cycle lanes again.

Measures to facilitate cycling need to:

• Promote:

– The relevance of cycling to health, fitness and wellbeing, and saving money

• But note safety will need to come first for many potential cyclists!

– How enjoyable cycling can be

• Those who cycle often derive additional utility from a cycling journey over

and above that derived from the destination because the act of cycling is

enjoyable, relaxing, de-stressing…

– The ease with which local amenities can be accessed (and the existence of

said amenities)

• Many people walked simply because it was the easiest way of accessing

local amenities, this could be true for cycling as well with more cycle

routes to local amenities and cycle stands at the destination.

Thank you for listening!

Any questions?