Evaluating the impact of environmental interventions across 2 countries: the International Bikeshare Impacts on Cycling and Collisions Study (IBICCS) Study protocol

Abstract

BackgroundFew international studies examine public bicycle share programs (PBSP) health impacts. We describe the protocol for the International Bikeshare Impacts on Cycling and Collisions Study (IBICCS).MethodsA quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups design was used. Intervention cities (Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York and Vancouver) were matched to control cities (Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia) on total population, population density, cycling rates, and average yearly temperature. The study used three repeated, cross-sectional surveys in intervention and control cities in Fall 2012 (baseline), 2013 (year 1), and 2014 (year 2). A non-probabilistic online panel survey with a sampling frame of individuals residing in and around areas where PBSP are/would be implemented was used. A total of 12,000 respondents will be sampled. In each of the 8 cities 1000 respondents will be sampled with an additional 4000 respondents sampled based on the total population of the city. Survey questions include measures of self-rated health, and self-reported height and weight, knowledge and experience using PBSP, physical activity, bicycle helmet use and history of collisions and injuries while cycling, socio-demographic questions, and home/workplace locations. Respondents could complete questionnaires in English, French, and Spanish. Two weights will be applied to the data: inverse probability of selection and post-stratification on age and sex.A triple difference analysis will be used. This approach includes in the models, time, exposure, and treatment group, and interaction terms between these variables to estimate changes across time, between exposure groups and between cities.DiscussionThere are scientific and practical challenges in evaluating PBSP. Methodological challenges included: appropriate sample recruitment, exchangeability of treatment and control groups, controlling unmeasured confounding, and specifying exposure. Practical challenges arise in the evaluation of environmental interventions such as a PBSP: one of the companies involved filed for bankruptcy, a Hurricane devastated New York City, and one PBSP was not implemented. Overall, this protocol provides methodological and practical guidance for researchers wanting to study PBSP impacts on health.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1103) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Impact of Different Stakeholders of Bike-Sharing Industry on Users’ Intention of Civilized Use of Bike-Sharing

“…Bike-sharing indeed brings us some great benefits and helps create a new sort of living and even a new sort of thinking [1,2]. For example, bike-sharing enhances users' likelihood to ride [3]. This reduces unnecessary public transportation rides, releases the extension of traffic jam, and decreases pollution discharge [4,5].…”

“…Bike-sharing scheme is offering several important benefits. First, bike-sharing enhances users' likelihood to ride and reduces unnecessary public transportation rides, releasing the extension of traffic jam [3]. Second, bike-sharing is environmental friendly and helps decrease emission of CO 2 and pollution discharge [5,9].…”

Evaluating the impact of implementing public bicycle share programs on cycling: the International Bikeshare Impacts on Cycling and Collisions Study (IBICCS)

“…Despite rapid expansion of PBSPs, there are limited evaluations of the population-level impacts of these programs on cycling, leaving uncertainty as to whether these programs lead to net increases in cycling at a population level or attract those that already cycle and are sufficiently physically active [5]. The evidence base is further limited to case studies conducted in one city or studies that do not have pre-intervention measures or control groups [5, 6].…”

Impacts of Bicycle Infrastructure in Mid-Sized Cities (IBIMS): protocol for a natural experiment study in three Canadian cities

“… 43 We also ask respondents to report details of bicycle safety incidents within the past 3 months, including location, injury severity and reporting (insurance, police, other). 44 45 Demographic questions include age, gender, employment, income, education, ethnicity, access to a car, bicycle ownership, household characteristics and home and work/school postal code, using items from the Canadian Community Health Survey. 46…”