HISTORY of the WOMEN CYCLING SURVEY
In 2016, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) launched the Women Cycling Survey (WCS). The survey was an effort to capture ‘a snapshot in time’ in terms of women and bicycling, with the goal of informing those in the practice of planning and design as they work to encourage more people to cycle. Kit Keller, then of APBP, and Fionnuala Quinn, of the Bureau of Good Roads, collaborated to design and distribute the survey. Not long after the survey was completed, a call was put out for volunteers to analyze the results.
The survey was a follow up to the original Women Cycling Survey issued by APBP in 2010, which received over 13,000 responses. Results of that survey are housed with the Women Cycling Project (“Women Cycling Project | Founded in 2010 by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals” n.d.). The 2010 survey was widely heralded as having played a role in promoting the question of women and bicycling in national conversations. The issuance of the 2016 survey stemmed from a desire to keep the conversation on women and bicycles current, and to stake out a space for transportation professionals to consider this question in their work.
THE SURVEY
The Women Cycling Survey was administered online via Survey Monkey and distributed through social media channels and listservs. It contained 18 questions, was intended to take 6-8 minutes to respond to, and included a variety of check one, check all and Likert scale questions. The survey reached 1,894 Respondents overall, from 45 US States and 7 Canadian Provinces. A range of age groups are represented amongst respondents, with the largest numbers between 30- 39 and 40 -49. The survey did not reach a diverse audience, over 90% of those responding were white. More than 50% of the respondents had graduate degrees.
The Women Cycling Survey reached a group of women bicyclists who characterize themselves primarily as ‘Strong and Fearless’ or ‘Enthused and Confident’. The sample is thus skewed towards those who are likely very interested in bicycling in general, likely a limitation of the distribution method. Consequently, the respondents also tended to rate things generally as important when asked to rate on a Likert scale. However, even amongst this self-selected sample, there is a range of nuance in the responses. While these women are not representative of the general population, their voices are important to hear as they are likely out riding in current conditions, possess valuable knowledge about bicycling in our communities, and can help encourage those in the ‘Interested but Concerned’ group onto their bikes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project is part of a collaborative effort at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech, and the Bureau of Good Roads.
Fionnuala Quinn (Bureau of Good Roads), Huyen Le (Virginia Tech), Noreen McDonald (UNC-DCRP/CSCRS), Lorin Bruckner (UNC-Research Hub), Cathy Zimmer (UNC Odum Lab)
This project was completed as a thesis substitute in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s Degree at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, by Alyson West, MCRP.
For more information contact alyson dot west at gmail dot com.
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