Cycle commuting and perceptions of barriers: stages of change, gender and occupation

Abstract

completed a BSc honours degree in Sports Science at the University of Edinburgh in 2006. She started a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2007. Her PhD is orientated towards health and exercise psychology and focuses on understanding and promoting cycle commuting in a workplace setting. Joanne M Williams completed her PhD in developmental psychology in 1993. As a post-doctoral research she published on areas relating to adolescent health and risk behaviour. She was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh in 1996 and her current post as lecturer in psychology in Moray House School of Education in 1998.

Cycle commuting intention: A model based on theory of planned behaviour and social identity

“…It is also important to devise strategies to mitigate or eliminate the perceived disadvantages of cycling, given that perceptions of cycling are related to level of cycling experience (Rondinella et al, 2012;Stinson & Bhat, 2003). It is a consistent finding that the perceived risk of having a cycling accident, for example, is lower in 'utility cyclists' with experience of cycling in traffic than in those who have no experience of cycling in traffic (De Geus et al, 2008;Gatersleben & Appleton, 2007;Joshi & Senior, 1998;Lawson, Pakrashi, Ghosh, & Szeto, 2013;Nkurunziza, Zuidgeest, Brussel, & Van Maarseveen, 2012;Shannon et al, 2006;Snelson, Lawson, & Morris, 1993;Van Bekkum et al, 2011). Policies should avoid approaches that tend to reinforce the image of cycling as an extremely risky and stressful activity because it inhibits the phenomenon of safety in numbers (Elvik, 2009;Jacobsen, 2003), as perceived risk discourages people from cycling in the first place (Dill & Voros, 2007;Winters, Davidson, Kao, & Teschke, 2011), leading to persistently low numbers of cyclists and relatively high actual risk levels, which are reflected in perceptions of risk.…”

“…The social and physical context for this research, a city in southern Europe with a moderate rate of bicycle usage (6.9%), was a novelty in behavioural transport research. Most studies of cycle commuting have been carried out in cities where cycle commuting is considered normal in social terms; either because cycling is more common in the general population (De Geus, De Bourdeaudhuij, Jannes, & Meeusen, 2008;Eriksson & Forward, 2011;Forward, 2014;Heinen et al, 2011;Johansson, Heldt, & Johansson, 2006) or because the sample was limited to a specific context or group where cycling is more common (Fernández-Heredia, Monzón, & Jara-Díaz, 2014;Handy, Xing, & Buehler, 2010;Lavery et al, 2013;Van Bekkum et al, 2011).…”

“…Investigating a behaviour which is practised by a small minority poses a methodological challenge; researchers have responded by working in defined settings such as university campuses or specific work-related contexts (Bonham & Koth, 2010;Lavery, Páez, & Kanaroglou, 2013;Shannon et al, 2006;Van Bekkum, Williams, & Morris, 2011). This research was based on data from a representative sample of the population of commuters in of Vitoria-Gasteiz, a medium-sized city of 240,000 inhabitants.…”

Toward feminist geographies of cycling

“…The majority of articles that examined gendered risk arrived at this conclusion by comparing male and female responses (ascertained through self‐identification) to travel survey questions ( n = 15). Female respondents identified safety indicators as greater barriers to cycling than did male respondents (Delmelle & Delmelle, ; Dickinson, Kingham, Copsey, & Pearlman Hougie, ; Troped et al, ; Van Bekkum, Williams, & Morris, ; Wittman, Savan, Ledsham, Liu, & Lay, ), perceived roads or existing infrastructure as less safe or satisfactory than did male respondents (Manton, Rau, Fahy, Sheahan, & Clifford, ; Nelson & Woods, ; Stronegger, Titze, & Oja, ), or described greater concern over safety indicators (e.g., vehicular traffic and lack of bicycle infrastructure) than did male respondents (Akar, Fisher, & Namgung, ; Twaddle, Hall, & Bracic, ). Other survey‐based studies found that safety indicators were statistically stronger correlates of bicycling behaviour for women than men (Akar et al, ; Emond et al, ; Mitra & Nash, ; Orstad, McDonough, Klenosky, Mattson, & Troped, ; Van Cauwenberg et al, ).…”

Ar gali kelionės dviračiais paskatinti regionų plėtrą?

“…Minėti mokslininkai išskyrė keletą Australijos regionų dviratininkų segmentų ir apibrėžė skirtingus jų kelionių motyvus: patirti nuotykių, įgūdžių ar patirties, įveikti asmeninius iššūkius, atsipalaiduoti ar atitrūkti nuo visų. Atsižvelgiant į motyvus, tiriamos dviratininkų informavimo galimybės, tai atskleidžia tyrimo taikomąją vertę (Van Bekkum, Williams, 2011a;2011b).…”