AbstractHeavy dependency on car use leads to traffic congestion, pollution, and physical inactivity, which impose high direct and indirect costs on society. Promoting walking and cycling has been recognised as one of the means of mitigating such negative effects. Various approaches have been taken to enhance walking and cycling levels and to reduce the use of automobiles. This paper examines the effectiveness of infrastructure interventions in promoting walking and cycling for transport. Two related sets of panel data, covering elapsed time periods of one and two years, were analysed to track changes in travel behaviour following provision of new walking and cycling infrastructure so that modal shift from private car use to walking and cycling can be investigated. Two types of exposure measures were tested: distance from the infrastructure (a measure of potential usage), and actual usage of the infrastructure. Only the latter measure was statistically significantly associated with modal shift. This in turn suggested that infrastructure provision was not a sufficient condition for modal shift, but may have been a necessary condition. Along with the use of new infrastructure, the loss of employment, higher education, being male and being part of the ethnic majority were consistently found to be significantly and positively associated with modal shift towards walking and cycling. The findings of this study support the construction of walking and cycling routes, but also suggest that such infrastructure alone may not be enough to promote active travel.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    New walking and cycling infrastructure and modal shift in the UK: A quasi-experimental panel study


    Contributors:
    Song, Yena (author) / Preston, John (author) / Ogilvie, David (author)


    Publication date :

    2016-11-21


    Size :

    14 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





    Walking and Cycling as Transport

    T. Solheim | NTIS | 1997


    Planning walking networks and cycling networks

    Parkin, J. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2010


    Use of and short-term impacts of new cycling infrastructure in inner-Sydney, Australia: a quasi-experimental design

    Rissel, Chris / Greaves, Stephen / Wen, Li Ming et al. | Springer Verlag | 2015

    Free access