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Comfort + Convenience = More Women Biking Susan Handy August 29, 2013
Comfort + Convenience = More Women Biking
Susan Handy August 29, 2013
Share of Workers CommuCng by Bicycle
Source: Pucher and Buehler (eds.) City Cycling. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012
0.55 1.7 3.7
6.0
13.0 15.5
34 37
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
The Davis Bicycle Studies • Bicycling Behavior -‐ Six-‐City Survey • The Bike-‐to-‐Soccer Program • Bicycling to High School • UC Davis Campus Travel Survey • E-‐Bike Early Adopters • FormaCon of AXtudes Towards Bicycling
Share biking in last 7 days
50%
56%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Women Men
2.8
3.3
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
Women Men
Days biked in last 7 days
Source: Six City Survey, UC Davis
For Davis residents…
Any travel to campus by bike All travel to campus by bike
Source: 2010-‐11 Campus Travel Survey, UC Davis
52% 58%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Women Men
29%
40%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Women Men
For UC Davis students and employees living in Davis…
Share of bike trips by women
25% 27% 30%
41%
49% 55% 56%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Source: Pucher and Buehler (eds.) City Cycling. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012; UC Davis observaCons
Convenience
24%
8%
45%
21%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Need to use car during day Pick-‐up kid duty
Women who bike
Women who don't bike
Source: 2010-‐11 Campus Travel Survey, UC Davis
Convenience?
35%
17%
32%
15%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Need to use car during day Pick-‐up kid duty
Women
Men
Source: 2010-‐11 Campus Travel Survey, UC Davis *Difference not sta3s3cally significant.
* *
Confidence and Comfort
64% 61%
84% 80%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
I am very confident riding a bike Comfortable riding on a four-‐lane street with bike lane
Women Men
Source: 2010-‐11 Campus Travel Survey, UC Davis
Safety Concerns
25%
11%
6% 5%
12%
19%
7%
3% 3%
7%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Hit by car Hit by other bicyclist*
Biben by dog Mugged or abacked
Crashing due to road hazards
Percen
t Very Co
ncerne
d
Women Men
Source: Six City Survey, UC Davis *Difference not sta3s3cally significant.
AXtudes
76% 83% 85%
89%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
I like riding a bike I enjoy physical exercise
Women Men
Source: 2010-‐11 Campus Travel Survey, UC Davis
Key Points
• Convenience mabers equally for women and men
• Women are less comfortable bicycling than men
• Women are more concerned for their safety than men
• Women like bicycling less than men
Percent Bicycling
14%
44%
30%
21%
57%
43%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Soccer Games Junior High High School
Girls
Boys
Source: AYSO Survey and DHS Survey, UC Davis
Convenience
57% 59%
17%
48% 42%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
I am always rushed to get ready in the
morning.
I have lots of stuff to carry to school.
The clothes I wear make it hard to ride a bicycle.
Girls
Boys
Source: DHS Survey, UC Davis
Confidence and Comfort
80%
53%
82% 89%
69%
89%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
100%
I am confident in my bicycling ability.
I feel comfortable bicycling on a busy street with a bicycle
lane.
I feel comfortable geXng places on my
own.
Girls Boys
Source: DHS Survey, UC Davis
AXtudes
49%
75% 75%
56%
83%
61%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
I like bicycling. I like being physically acCve.
ProtecCng the environment is important to me.
Girls Boys
Source: DHS Survey, UC Davis
Peers
Source: DHS Survey, UC Davis
47%
26%
6%
53%
40%
8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
My friends bicycle to school.
Driving is the coolest way to get to school.
I worry what my peers will think of me if I bike
to school.
Girls
Boys
*
*Difference not sta3s3cally significant.
Key Points
• Girls are bicycling less than boys from the start
• Girls are less confident and comfortable bicycling than boys
• Girls like bicycling less than boys but other have other favorable aXtudes
• Convenience seems to factor in for high school girls
ImplicaCons • Build faciliCes that are more comfortable for women, given their lower confidence level.
• Implement programs – for children, teens, adults – to help increase confidence for women.
• Adopt strategies to make bicycling more convenient for everyone.
• Evaluate these efforts, so we know what works!
Engineering
EducaCon
Encouragement
Enforcement
The 4 E’s of Bicycle Planning
Environment
EducaCon
Encouragement
Enforcement
Equipment
The 5 E’s of Bicycle Planning
Equipment Quotes
• “…aser going to Copenhagen, and also Amsterdam and seeing women look so lovely on bicycles. And they were not slouched over with their bubs up in the air, which is just so unfeminine… that was the first transiCon I made was a more female oriented bike.”
• “…most of the Cme I wear my hair in a ponytail, and then [wearing a helmet] goofs up your hair. I know it’s a silly thing…”
Source: AXtude Interviews, UC Davis
Equipment Quotes
• “… a lible bit of pride that goes into it, like one Cme we went to Target. So, I have a two-‐year old son and so he was on the bike trailer. We went to Target and ended up buying all these storage baskets and bins... My son was carrying like 3 boxes in his lap, and then I had the back of the trailer stuffed full, and then I had like all these things that were precariously in my bike basket. I just felt kind of like proud of myself that I could do all that and get home without dropping anything.”
Source: AXtude Interviews, UC Davis
Where there’s a will there’s a way…
“I love my bike. It’s my car!”
