Walking and Bicycling: What Does the Research Tell Us?
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Transcript of Walking and Bicycling: What Does the Research Tell Us?
Walking and Bicycling:What Does the Research Tell Us?
Susan HandySustainable Transportation Center
University of California Davis
Presented at the California Transportation Futures Symposium
September 3, 2008
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3Sources: http://www.syriait.net/photos/uncategorized/air_pollution_china.jpg; http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/ozone-pollution-smog.jpg
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Walk/Bike as Share of Urban Trips 1995
Source: Pucher and Dijkstra 2003
How can we get people to walk and bike more?
Individual Factors:
Age, gender, attitudes, experience, comfort?
Social Environment Factors:
Family, friends, neighbors, crime?
Physical Environment Factors:
Sidewalks, crosswalks, land-use mix, design?
Research Findings
Walking
Influence of Built Environment on Walking for Transport
Density +Land-use mix +
Distance to destinations -
Street connectivity ?Pedestrian infrastructure ?Traffic ?Personal safety ?Parks/open space ?Aesthetics ?
Saelens and Handy, 2008
The Caltrans Study
• Eight neighborhoods in Northern California, chosen based on design and location
• 2003 mail-out, mail-back survey with 1672 respondents (24.7%)
• Funding from Caltrans, UCTC, Active Living Research Program
Walking to Store vs. Distance
Handy, Cao, and Mokhtarian, 2006.
Walking to Store vs. Walk Preference
Handy, Cao, and Mokhtarian, 2006.
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Walking for Low-Income Households• Low-income household walk for travel and
use transit more than moderate- and high-income households.
• Low-income persons perceive less favorable walking conditions, and pedestrian accidents are relatively high in low-income areas.
Source: Walkable Communities, Inc.
Research Findings
Biking
Bicycle Share of Total Trips
Source: Pucher and Buehler, 2008
Australia
('01)
USA ('0
1)
UK ('05)
Canada ('01)
Ireland ('0
2)
Italy
('00)
France
('94)
Norway (
'01)
Austria ('9
5)
Switz
erland ('
00)
Belgium ('99)
Germany (
'02)
Sweden ('0
0)
Finland ('9
8)
Denmark ('0
1)
Netherlands (
'05)0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1% 1% 1%2% 2%
3% 3%4%
5%6%
8%
10% 10%11%
18%
27%
Source: Pucher and Buehler, 2008
Bicycle Share by City
Sydney
Adelaide
Melbourne
Perth
Canberra
New York
Chicago
Denver
Washington, D.C.
Minneapolis
Portland
Toronto
Montreal
Calgary
Saskatoon
Victoria
Durham
Outer London
Inner London
Oxfordshire
CambridgeshireA
US
TRA
LIA
US
AC
AN
AD
AU
K
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
0.6%
1.2%
2.0%
3.0%
3.1%
0.5%
0.7%
1.4%
1.7%
2.4%
3.5%
0.8%
1.3%
1.5%
2.5%
4.8%
1.0%
1.8%
3.8%
7.5%
10.1%
Source: http://bikeportland.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/2007-bike-countsbig.jpg
19911992199
319941995199619971998199
920002001200220032004200
520062007
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
Bicycle Traffic Across 4 Main Portland Bridges
Percent Biking to Work
Source: Xing, Buehler, and Handy, 2008
Davis Bicycle Studies• Six small cities, chosen based on
infrastructure and culture: Davis, Woodland, Chico, Turlock, Eugene, Boulder
• 2006 on-line survey, with 864 responses (12.3%)
• Funding from the Sustainable Transportation Center
Percent Biking Last Week by “Major streets have bike lanes”
not at all true somewhat true mostly true entirely true0
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20
30
40
50
60
Perc
ent B
ikin
g La
st W
eek
Source: Xing, Buehler, and Handy, 2008
Percent Biking Last Week vs. Comfort Biking to Grocery Store
Source: Xing, Buehler, and Handy, 2008
unconfortable and wouldn't bike
uncomfortable but would bike
comfortable0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Perc
ent B
ikin
g La
st W
eek
Percent Biking Last Week vs. “I like riding a bike”
strongly disagree
disagree neutral agree strongly agree
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Perc
ent B
ikin
g La
st W
eek
Source: Xing, Buehler, and Handy, 2008
Biking for Low-Income Households
• Almost no research on use of bicycles by low-income households.
• Potential for bicycles to “fill the gap” between walking and transit, as low-cost alternative.
• Unsafe conditions in low-income areas an obstacle and concern.
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0eKJfLB8Mn2a1
http://www.tate.org.uk/research/tateresearch/tatepapers/07autumn/images/lang_fig1.jpg
Research Findings
The Self-Selection QuestionDo people who like to walk or bike
choose to live in communities conducive to walking and biking?
Walking to Store vs. Neighborhood Choice
Handy, Cao, and Mokhtarian, 2006.
Biked Last Week vs. Neighborhood Choice
Xing, Buehler, and Handy, 2008
Implications of the Evidence
Implications of the Evidence
1. We can’t yet say that changes in the physical environment will necessarily lead to increases in walking and biking.
Implications of the Evidence
2. But we can be pretty sure that without changes in the physical environment, walking and biking are not likely to increase…
Implications of the Evidence
3. ..and we can be sure that changes in the physical environment will increase the opportunities for walking and biking:
Proximity = f (land use mix, connectivity) Quality = f (design)
Implications of the Evidence
4. But we also know that we need to address individual and social factors if we want more people to take advantage of these opportunities.
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Walking and Bicycling Conditions
Individual and Social Factors
Self-Selection Effect
Policy Implications
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Thanks!