The ‘Four Types of Cyclists’ is a commonly used means of identifying different groups of cyclists by their own self-described individual attitudes towards cycling, also understood as their ‘comfort level’. ‘Comfort Level’ can assist in determining how to target different types of cyclists when planning to serve varying needs with infrastructure or encouragement programming (Dill and McNeil 2016) .
Survey Respondents were asked ‘What general category of transportation bicyclist would you mostly place yourself in (i.e. comfort level using available facilities)?
Strong and Fearless (cycle regardless of road condition)
Enthused and Confident (comfortable sharing road but prefer own facilities)
Interested but Concerned (curious about cycling, would ride if felt safer on the road)
No Way, No How (not interested in cycling at all)
The Women Cycling Survey 2016 reached a group of women bicyclists who characterize themselves primarily as ‘Strong and Fearless’ or ‘Enthused and Confident’. 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.
One way to examine the results of the Women Cycling Survey is through the lens of Comfort Level. Results are presented here.