The Women Cycling Survey questions are listed here.
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Do you ride a bicycle for the following (check all that apply)?
Health is the top reason the respondents to this survey ride their bicycles. Joy comes in a close second. Priorities such as these are important to keep in mind when considering transportation facilities. Bicycling can improve both physical and mental health, and these factors are important for vibrant communities.
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Do you ever use a bicycle for transportation to/from any of the following destinations (check all that apply)?
The data shows a good distribution of destinations chosen by women who ride. Social destinations, Stores/Services and neighborhood destinations appear to be more frequent destinations than work. Targeting busy commuter routes and evaluating connectivity and safety barriers that may exists on those segments could increase bicycling to work trips.
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Why do you use your bicycle for trips? (check all that apply)
Recreational and fitness cycling are the most common purposes for choosing to rice bicycles for the respondents, which agrees with most current data. Riding for transportation is also revealed as a common purpose. Avenues to grow the bicycling community in any form are positive for the overall number of bicycling, and time spent riding increases confidence.
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What type(s) of bicycle do you use (check all that apply)?
The most commonly owned type of bicycle for this group of women is a Mountain Bike. Large numbers also own city or hybrid bicycles, as well as ‘race’ bicycles which are most likely understood as road bikes. All types of riding should be accommodated and encouraged in communities. Women-led group rides can become habit forming.
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If these options existed and all things being equal, where would you choose to cycle? (check one)
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What is the minimum acceptable infrastructure where you would choose to cycle? (check one)
Questions 11 and 12 are best viewed as a pair. Which facilities women find ‘ideal’ and which are the minimum acceptable vary greatly. Cyclists of all confidence levels mostly agree that riding ‘on the street’ is not ideal, though a majority of the ‘strong and fearless’ would ride regardless of infrastructure. Most agree that trails or off-street paths are more desirable facilities. Building out the network of truly separated bicycling facilities could lead to more women to bicycling in many locations.
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What general category of transportation bicyclist would you mostly place yourself in (i.e. comfort level using available facilities)?
Discussion of Comfort Level can be found HERE.
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Mobility education offers information and hands-on experience so that children can learn about and safely use a variety of transportation options. If you have school-age children (K-12) have they or will they receive mobility education as part of their schooling? (check all that apply)
The majority of respondents to this question did not have children, so we did not choose to analyze the answers to this question.
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Transportation safety and road conditions: On a scale from 1 (Not at all Important) to 5 (Very Important) please indicate how each of the following would cause you to start or increase your cycling:
Safety is a consistent concern of all groups of respondents to the survey, though there is clear variation in which safety factors are most important as comfort level changes. All riders ranked driver awareness as a concern, but safety issues for the ‘Strong and Fearless’ group also appear to relate to matters which they might face while riding, such as poor road condition, for example, whereas the ‘No way, No how’ group is focused more on interactions with motor vehicles. ‘Police presence’ consistently ranks the lowest. Focusing on infrastructure improvements to enhance safety will help to encourage more bicycling in the community.
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Transportation facilities: On a scale from 1 (Not at all Important) to 5 (Very Important) please indicate how each of the following would cause you to start or increase your cycling:
Connectivity is also ranked as highly important to the respondents. When asked to rank which factors of Transportation Facilities are most important, ‘Safer Places to Cycle’ and ‘Better Connectivity’ are ranked the highest for almost all groups. Notably, the factor ‘Elimination of Dangerous/Unpleasant Bottleneck on Otherwise Suitable Route’ was also chosen as a key factor, suggesting that significant gaps in the bicycling network, whether they are unsafe or simply unpleasant, present a substantial barrier to more women cycling. We know from research that women’s travel patterns are likely to be more complex than men’s (Bonham and Wilson 2012), and these survey responses further confirm that women have a multilayered perspective when faced with bicycling environments which are likely to be unsafe or incomplete networks. Moreover, factors which influence the decision to travel by bicycle evolves as women’s ‘Comfort Level’ changes. Creating a safe, connected network will increase the number of women bicycling.
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Transportation culture and encouragement programs: On a scale from 1 (Not at all Important) to 5(Very Important), please indicate how each of the following would cause you to start or increase your cycling:
Programs to encourage bicycling are generally considered important by the respondents. As is the case with all of the Likert Scale questions, the nuance within the responses reveals interesting patterns. For example, for those with the least confidence in riding, financial incentives are highly desirable. For others, general community acceptance is high priority. Ensuring that bicycling is a part of any transportation conversation may help to raise the profile of cycling in general.
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Negative Factors: On a scale from 1 (Not at all Important) to 5 (Very Important), please indicate how each of the following would cause you to stop or decrease your cycling:
Safety tops the list of barriers to bicycling for women of all comfort levels. For all but the ‘Strong and Fearless’ set, Personal Safety and Security was rated the highest by more than 45% of respondents. As this chart shows, all barriers to cycling are, on average, of greater concern for the least confident riders. Programs which encourage riding of any kind in safe settings might help boost confidence levels and enable some to take on new challenges.
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