Cycling in Cities

University of British Columbia occupational health professor Dr. Kay Teschke recently completed an innovative study on cycling in cities. Dr. Teschke, a four-year member of the City of Vancouver Bicycle Advisory Committee, initially became interested when she noticed that, as a mother who was uncomfortable cycling in the city with her young daughter, her views on the needs of urban cyclists were different than those of many of the seasoned committee members representing cyclists in the city.

Naturally, as an academic, she turned to literature on the subject, and discovered that no existing studies could answer specific questions about what types of routes cyclists prefer.

Research abounds on helmets and cycling, but coming from an occupational health background, Dr. Teschke knows that personal protective gear is one of the least effective ways to prevent injury, because it doesn’t prevent an actual crash. The best approach is what is known as an engineering control: separating cyclists and motorized vehicles, eliminating the opportunity for the accident altogether.

The study surveyed 1,400 regular, occasional, and potential cyclists in Metro Vancouver, asking which of 16 different route types they preferred. Pictures of the route types were included, so people could visualize what such routes look like before making their choice. The respondents also evaluated 73 factors that influence their decision to ride.

The findings give insight into the needs of urban cyclists. Not surprisingly, most people want to ride where there is little motor vehicle traffic; the top three preferred route types are all off-street, and the fourth (on-street) is separated by a barrier. This pattern of preferences is similar for all cyclists, with two exceptions: regular cyclists do not like off-street unpaved multi-use routes, nor do they like residential streets without traffic calming as much as the other two groups. Women and/or people with children in the household are even less likely to choose the low preference routes, such as major streets and rural roads with no paved shoulder.

There were several surprises, too. Beautiful scenery was rated third out of 73 factors influencing people’s decision to cycle. One of the most unexpected findings is that the most positive factors and the most negative factors influencing people’s choice to cycle have to do with route type. For example, the factor that was rated as the most positive influence was “the route is away from traffic noise and air pollution.” The second most negative factor was “the street has a lot of car, bus and truck traffic,” although that came second to “the route is snowy or icy,” which does not happen much here in Vancouver.

Other factors, such as the availability of showers and bike lockers at the destination or educational concerns (i.e. courses on cycling or fixing bikes) do not appear to be as important. “It’s not at the top of people’s concern to improve their cycling skills. On the educational side, they are more concerned about the availability of route planning tools,” says Dr. Teschke.

The study also contradicts some of the “vehicular cycling” ideas that have heavily influenced cycling infrastructure in North America. “Vehicular cycling” states that cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as vehicles, and claims that cyclists should always ride on the road with motorized traffic.

The results of this study have shown instead that if we want to encourage more cycling, especially among women and people with children in their households, we should focus on the top route choices, which means providing alternatives to cycling on the road with cars. The ideal route according to this study is actually something like an abandoned rail corridor. These tend to be flat, separated from traffic, may have beautiful scenery, provide direct routes, and can be paved.

Now that city planners and cycling advocates have this new grist for their mills, the next step for Dr. Teschke is to investigate the connection between injury rates and route types. Stay tuned.

http://www.cher.ubc.ca/cyclingincities/

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