Fear of cycling: Social, spatial, and temporal dimensions

Ravensbergen, Léa; Buliung, Ron; Laliberté, Nicole

doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102813

Cited by 32 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…These findings are consistent with international research that shows that reasons for lower rates of cycling amongst women include: greater domestic responsibilities (Emond et al, 2009, Steinbach et al, 2011; greater vulnerability to and fear of street violence (Frater and Kingham, 2018, Ravensbergen et al, 2020, McCullough et al, 2019; being less likely to be taught cycling skills; lower levels of perceived self-efficacy with negotiating traffic (Emond et al, 2009, Félonneau et al, 2013; difficulties achieving cultural expectations of feminine dress and behavior while cycling (Emond et al, 2009, Akar et al, 2013, Frater and Kingham, 2018; and sexism, racism and exclusion within cycling cultures (Epperson, 1995, Ferguson, 2017.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Gender and the e-bike: Exploring the role of electric bikes in increasing women’s access to cycling and physical activity

Wild¹,

Woodward

Shaw

2021

Active Travel Studies

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In low-cycling countries like Aotearoa New Zealand, women are much less likely to cycle.  Previous research has identified improvements to cycling infrastructure and increasing gender equality as key ways to open up cycling to women.  The electric bicycle (or e-bike) may be another tool that could be used to lift women’s cycling rates.  In this paper we explored findings from the Electric City research project in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand that touched on aspects of gender and e-cycling experience.  We used data from interviews with three groups, e-cyclists, e-bike retailers, and cycling planners and policy-makers, to gain insights into the gendered dimensions of the e-cycling assemblage (rider, bike, environment).  The results showed that e-bikes act as a cycling enabler for women in ways that both reinforce as well as challenge aspects of traditional gender socialisation:  E-bikes enable women to meet traditional care responsibilities, and achieve traditional feminine expectations of presentation on a bike.  However, they also increase women’s cycling confidence and assertiveness, provide less fit women with more empowering physical activity experiences, improve the quality of bikes available to women, and can create more inclusive bike retail environments.  We concluded that these benefits are less likely to be available to lower-income women, due to the high cost of e-bikes.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Gender and the e-bike: Exploring the role of electric bikes in increasing women’s access to cycling and physical activity

Wild¹,

Woodward

Shaw

2021

Active Travel Studies

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“…The findings of our interview also suggest that the level of lighting and visibility at the stations, the presence/absence of emergency help buttons at the bikes stations and the characteristics of the lanes (width, location, lighting, etc.) have significant impact on cycling, which is consistent with the subjective and objective safety findings reported in Kumar et al [36] and Ravensbergen et al [38]. • FC-Confidence/experience: Less experienced cyclists, or those with little confidence on their own cycling abilities, see the interaction with vehicles on on-road cycling infrastructure more challenging and intimidating [34].…”

supporting

confidence: 83%

“…Segregated infrastructure, alongside interventions targeted at road culture and driver behaviour, is suggested to have stronger influence on the rate of cycling of women [35,36]. • FC-Harassment: Women are susceptible to harassment, verbal abuse and attacks in the public space and are more likely to report sexiest harassment from other road users when cycling than men [21,37,38]. Howland et al [17] found the fear of harassment by men and drivers is a significant barrier to cycling and the use of bike-sharing services by women.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling Women’s Needs and Expectations as Users of Bike Sharing Services: The H2020 DIAMOND Project

et al. 2021

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Within the objectives of the H2020 DIAMOND project, the paper investigates women’s needs and expectations as users of the bike-sharing service managed by Syndicat Mixte Autolib et Velib Métropole in the territory of Paris Region-Petite Couronne (France). The paper presents a thematic literature review focused on gender inclusion in bike-sharing schemes. The proposed methodological approach is based on (i) Geographic Information Systems for the analysis of geolocated open datasets related to land, sociodemographic and mobility characteristics of the areas surrounding each docking stations. This was aimed at identifying a short list of suitable bike-sharing docking stations, which were further characterized through: (ii) structured proprietary data focused on travel demand; (iii) onsite observations focused on universal design indicators; (iv) survey questionnaires focused on women’s concerns, needs and expectations; and (v) social media data from Twitter focused on the opinion of the end-users. Results showed that women use the VELIB’s bike-sharing service much less than men (about 30% of the total number of users), since they are more concerned about the following issues: accessibility (e.g., availability of bikes at the docking stations, distance to the nearest station, type and quality of the cycle paths); safety and security (e.g., perception of danger and insecurity while cycling and using the current bicycle infrastructures); social constraints (e.g., perceptions and cultural stigmatization associated with cycling and bike-sharing); weather and topography (e.g., impact of weather and the urban terrain on cycling and bike-sharing). The final aim of the H2020 DIAMOND project is to support the definition of guidelines and policies for the inclusion of women’s needs in the design of future bike-sharing services.

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“…Gender inequality often results in lower access to vehicles for women, which increases their dependence on active travel and public transport (Peters 2011). Within active travel, lack of safe environments, cultural norms, and fear of harassment discourage women from cycling (Garrard et al 2008a;Goel et al 2021;Iqbal et al 2020;Prati 2018;Ravensbergen et al 2020). Therefore, in populations with high levels of gender inequality, low vehicle ownership and poor or no infrastructure for cycling, women are particularly disadvantaged.…”

Section: Meaning Of Our Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender differences in active travel in major cities across the world

et al. 2022

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There is lack of literature on international comparison of gender differences in the use of active travel modes. We used population-representative travel surveys for 19 major cities across 13 countries and 6 continents, representing a mix of cites from low-and-middle income (n = 8) and high-income countries (n = 11). In all the cities, females are more likely than males to walk and, in most cities, more likely to use public transport. This relationship reverses in cycling, with females often less likely users than males. In high cycling cities, both genders are equally likely to cycle. Active travel to access public transport contributes 30–50% of total active travel time. The gender differences in active travel metrics are age dependent. Among children (< 16 years), these metrics are often equal for girls and boys, while gender disparity increases with age. On average, active travel enables one in every four people in the population to achieve at least 30 min of physical activity in a day, though there is large variation across the cities. In general, females are more likely to achieve this level than males. The results highlight the importance of a gendered approach towards active transport policies. Such an approach necessitates reducing road traffic danger and male violence, as well as overcoming social norms that restrict women from cycling.

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Fear of cycling: Social, spatial, and temporal dimensions

Cited by 32 publications

References 31 publications

Gender and the e-bike: Exploring the role of electric bikes in increasing women’s access to cycling and physical activity

Gender and the e-bike: Exploring the role of electric bikes in increasing women’s access to cycling and physical activity

Unveiling Women’s Needs and Expectations as Users of Bike Sharing Services: The H2020 DIAMOND Project

Gender differences in active travel in major cities across the world

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