Citation

Mosquera J, Parra DC, Gomez LF, Sarmiento O, Schmid T, Jacoby E. J. Phys. Act. Health 2012; 9(6): 776-785.

Affiliation

Health Division, FES Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

21951947

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The health benefits of physical activity are well documented in scientific literature. Bicycling for transportation is a modality of physical activity that people can incorporate easily into their daily lives. METHODS: A qualitative study using eleven semi structured individual interviews and 5 focus groups was conducted among 31 male and 13 female adult residents of Bogotá, Colombia in 2006, in order to explore barriers and facilitators of bicycle use for transportation purposes. People were selected based on socioeconomic status, age, and gender. Thematic analysis complemented with thematic network analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Six main themes emerged from the study: 1) general acknowledgement of individual and collective benefits of bicycle use, 2) built environment conditions were linked with bicycle use, 3) some social factors affect bicycling negatively, 4) people perceived conflicts over public space related to the use of bike-paths, 5) general negative public perception of bicyclists, 6) gender differences influence patterns of bicycle use. CONCLUSION: The findings from this qualitative study show that various social and physical barriers must be addressed in order to increase bicycle use as a means of transportation in Bogotá.

Language: en