Effect of Bicycle Facilities on Travel Mode Choice Decisions
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 142, Issue 4
Abstract
Bicycle facilities are commonly invested in to reduce vehicle congestion, mitigate vehicle emissions, and promote physical activity by increasing the number of bicycle trips and reducing the number of vehicle trips. Although there has been a large amount of behavioral and observational research on bicyclists’ route and facility preferences and the traveling public’s mode choice decisions, there is surprisingly little evidence on the effectiveness of bicycle facilities in increasing the share of bicycling relative to vehicle use. Using a stated-preference survey, this study finds that more than two-thirds of current bicycle facility users in Albuquerque, New Mexico, would continue to bicycle, and nearly one-third would discontinue bicycling, if the bicycle facilities they regularly use did not exist. The most common alternative would be driving a car. The findings suggest that bicycle facilities can increase bicycle mode share and reduce driving by influencing the mode choice decisions of certain individuals—namely, those with the least bicycling experience. Bicycle facilities may therefore play an important role in building new bicyclist confidence.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Julie Luna, transportation planner at the Mid Region Council of Governments, for her assistance in developing, administering, and coding the data from the Bike to Work Day survey. The survey effort described in this paper was supported by the Mid Region Council of Governments through an in-kind contribution of staff time and survey supplies. Data analysis was partially supported by an internal grant from the University of New Mexico. No other external financial support was provided for this research project.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 142 • Issue 4 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 25, 2015
Accepted: Mar 8, 2016
Published online: May 30, 2016
Discussion open until: Oct 30, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
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