Citation

Acharjee A, Sarkar PP. Transp. Res. D Trans. Environ. 2021; 97: e102905.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trd.2021.102905

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Increasing motorization in urban and rural areas has given rise to many adverse effects such as emissions of greenhouse gases, requirement on fossil fuels, pollution, and congestion which directly or indirectly affects human health. Bicycle, being a non-motorised mode can play a vital role in reducing some of the mentioned hazards. Perceptions and attitudes related to a mode play a significant role in mode choice behaviour. This study contributes in understanding the effects of parameters such as built environment, socio-economic factors, and individual travel attitudes on bicycle user behavior. VMT (Vehicle mile travel) for shopping trips, attitude related data, and socio-demographic parameters were collected for two distinct groups of people in three different areas of varying mixed land use. Land use diversity was quantified by entropy index in the study. The detailed analysis of this study reveals the psychological and socio-economic characteristics of bicycle users and non-user groups in low, medium, and highly mixed land use areas. From the elasticity estimates, it has been observed that for both groups, a slight change in the income and trip length has a significant impact on the latent variables and the travel behaviour. Residents living in urban areas have high social non-acceptance of bicycle use compared to suburban areas. Attitude measured using pro-bicycle parameter as a latent variable was found to be positive, and this parameter is one of the primary reasons for which the individuals still continue to use a bicycle. Apart from mix land use parameters and construction of bicycling facilities/infrastructures, this study also suggests policymakers to give more importance in creating positive perceptions related to bicycle mode among individuals and to improve various facilities and work opportunities in low and medium land use mix areas.

Language: en

Keywords

Bicycle; Land use diversity; Pro-bicycle; Social non-acceptance; Travel attitudes