Citation

Boyer RHW. Int. J. Sustain. Transp. 2018; 12(6): 407-415.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15568318.2017.1382622

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Riding a bicycle for utility purposes in US cities is rare, especially in historically automobile-dominated cities. Using data from a transportation survey administered to 406 residents of Charlotte, NC, this paper reports on the results of a logistic regression model that predicts the influence of an individual's recreational cycling frequency on the odds of that individual riding a bicycle for utility purposes on a weekly basis. The odds of an individual riding for utility purposes at least once a week increases dramatically as an individual rides more for recreation. Recreational cycling appears to offer a space in which individuals can acquire a threshold level of skills and materials necessary to ride their bike for utility purposes.

RESULTS suggest that plans to increase utility cycling in an automobile-dominated city like Charlotte ought to emphasize and fund opportunities for residents to ride recreationally, and consider how experience riding a bike in the temporally- and spatially- flexible context of recreation can encourage more individuals to ride to and from errands, school, or their place of work.

Language: en

Keywords

Bicycle planning; logistic regression; recreational cycling; social practice theory; United States; urban transport policy; utility cycling