“I grew up on a bike”: Cycling and older adults

Factors Preventing the Use of Alternative Transport Modes to the Car in Later Life

“…This was found to be true especially for short journeys in denser cities or congested urban centers [43,78,87]. Both modes have the characteristic of being a transport option as well as a recreational activity and provide physical exercise, with consequent benefits to health and wellbeing [66,74,78,87]. However, walking and cycling are not always easy activities for older people to undertake.…”

“…The design of pedestrian/cycling environments was also identified as a barrier for walking and cycling. Poor quality of footpaths, (size, width and presence of steps), broken or uneven pavements, lack of footpath networks and resting places (e.g., benches), toilets in public spaces, cars and scooter parked on, or obstructing, sidewalks and shared walking/cycling environments were found to be the most reported issues [2,38,55,56,58,67,71,73,74,[77][78][79]119]. In this sense, an additional barrier found in studies from Northern countries is the presence of snow or ice along the pathway during the winter season [64].…”

“…Oxley, Corben, Fildes and Charlton [117] highlight the fact that roads are mainly designed for car traffic and driver attitudes fail to acknowledge the rights of other users. Older cyclists report feeling safer on quiet roads or on cycle lanes separated from the road in order to avoid accidents, especially those related to car doors opening [66,74,78,80]. Another reported concern was found to be the lack of respect of road rules, not only from drivers, but also from other cyclists and pedestrians, especially younger ones [74,78].…”

“…Older cyclists report feeling safer on quiet roads or on cycle lanes separated from the road in order to avoid accidents, especially those related to car doors opening [66,74,78,80]. Another reported concern was found to be the lack of respect of road rules, not only from drivers, but also from other cyclists and pedestrians, especially younger ones [74,78]. Continuity of cycle lanes and footpaths and problems of mutual space invasion between pedestrians and cyclists, and the speed of other cyclists were also found to be of concern [38,58,74,78,80].…”

“…Another reported concern was found to be the lack of respect of road rules, not only from drivers, but also from other cyclists and pedestrians, especially younger ones [74,78]. Continuity of cycle lanes and footpaths and problems of mutual space invasion between pedestrians and cyclists, and the speed of other cyclists were also found to be of concern [38,58,74,78,80]. Interestingly, the fear of falling off a bicycle was not found to be a safety issue [66].…”