The Interplay Between the Choices to Cycle to Work, for Shopping and for Leisure

Recently there has been a surge of interest in cycling as a transport mode able to bring benefits at both the individual and community level, such as enhanced attractiveness of urban areas, low access cost and reduced parking space. An aspect often overlooked in transportation research is how sociodemographic, territorial and psycho-attitudinal factors influence cycling for different purposes. Much of the research has focused on cycling for all purposes, mixing utilitarian and recreational trips, but the determinants (both objective and subjective) triggering the choice to travel by bike may be different, depending on the reason people cycle. To better understand the interplay between the use of the bike for different purposes, we conduct a multivariate analysis. In particular, a series of sub-models are jointly estimated - a multinomial logit that models the commute mode choice, a binary logit that models the choice to use the bike for shopping and a binary logit that models the choice to use the bike for leisure, a structural equation model for the psycho-attitudinal variables. The data used in this study are drawn from a survey conducted in two mid-size urban areas in Italy. A sample of 1,105 individuals with prerequisites useful for the study at hand were used in our analyses. Many insightful results emerged from our analysis. Some socio-economic variables were found to have a significant effect. Males exhibit a greater propensity to cycle both for utilitarian and recreational purposes. Individuals with children are associated with a lower propensity to cycle for commuting, shopping and leisure. Interestingly, living in urban areas, positively influences the propensity to cycle for leisure, presumably because of the existence of better biking facilities as well as the presence in the vicinity of recreation activity locations. Regarding subjective variables (perception of bicycle benefits, perception of cycling comfort and perceived importance of bicycle infrastructure), they were found to positively influence the choice to cycle, for commuting, shopping and leisure, suggesting the importance to consider psychological factors to evaluate individuals’ propensity to cycle. These results are very interesting from a policy point of view. In fact, they strengthen the idea that the implementation of awareness campaigns and educational programmes improves peoples’ perceptions of the bike mode.