Social factors encourage cycling more than infrastucture, study

Bike infrastructure may not be as important as previously thought in encouraging cycling. Instead, riding with a group and enhancing self-efficacy seem to be the best ways to get more people out and on their bikes.

A new study from the University of Western Australia’s School of Population Health tracked 1,800 Perth, Australia, residents before and after moving into new homes with different bike and walking infrastructure than their previous neighbourhoods. Researchers also asked people when they felt most comfortable cycling and how able they felt they were to cycle.

Researchers found that although there was a small increase in the amount of cycling people did for transport when moving into more bike-friendly areas, the most effective way to get people out and active was to offer them a group to ride with and have them believe they would be able to bike safely to where they needed to go. Moving into areas with better bike infrastructure didn’t seem to have a large effect on recreational cycling, but it did coincide with a small increase.

The study notes in their conclusion that self-efficacy is the greatest barrier to people riding regularly, but also notes infrastructure improvements may contribute, although those results were not as definitive.