The document discusses the benefits of cycling, which include environmental, health, and economic advantages, while emphasizing the importance of inclusive infrastructure like protected bike lanes to promote cycling uptake. It highlights that despite efforts to increase cycling in the UK, participation remains low, particularly due to fears and perceptions around cycling safety. The need for a well-designed urban environment that supports cycling for all, especially marginalized groups, is stressed as crucial for changing societal norms and behaviors regarding transportation.

1. Normalising
cycling
or: how we can talk inclusively about cycling______________________________________________________
Katja Leyendecker EurIng CEng
Researcher at Northumbria University, UK
Prepared for Aalto University:
Summer School on Transportation 2018
“Enabling human-centered mobility systems”
1

2. Why bother with cycling?
Cycling is…
• Good for our environments
• Good for personal wellbeing and public health
• Good for the local economy
• Good for community and neighbourhoods, active citizens
• Good for the individual’s pocket
• Good for public purse
Cycling addresses big needs of today:
climate change / carbon emission reduction
public health / obesity
environmental improvement
(social, economic and environmental justice)
2

3. What kind of cycling?
Photocredit
right@amsterdamize
left@carltonreid
3

4. Fiona Spotswood et al (2015)
Despite significant national and local
efforts over the last decade to
stimulate uptake of cycling in the UK,
levels of cycling (particularly utility
cycling) remain at around 2% of
journeys
From the academic message boards
4
“stubbornly unshifting”

5. It is clear from our research that most
non-cyclists and recreational cyclists will
only consider cycling regularly if they are
segregated from [motor vehicle] traffic
Pooley et al (2013:176)
From the academic message boards
5

6. No city in Europe or North America has achieved
high level of cycling without an extensive network
of well-integrated bike lanes and paths that
provide separation from motor vehicle traffic. […]
Separate cycling facilities are a crucial first step
towards increasing cycling and making it socially
inclusive.
Pucher & Buehler (2012:351)
From the academic message boards
6

7. Urban environment and people
People typically know the benefits of cycling
People cycle when
• their local environments are supportive
• it is designed into the urban fabric
Key ingredient
Protected cycleways on main roads ie on direct routes (Pooley, Pucher)
But
People’s view can be fast/ snap, static/engrained, habitual
People ‘support’ perceived status quo and social norm
People’s view can be irrational
People may have fear / anxiety of change
People find it hard to imagine (spatial) change
Recent cycleway schemes saw backlash
f.e. Sadik-Khan (2016)
7

8. Some data
8

9. UK Census 2011
• high coverage 19/20
• every 10 years
• Tight, and only, travel question
"how do you usually travel to work"
• main mode, by distance
• commute / working population only
9

10. Modes by trip lengths
10

11. 8%
15%
20%
Modes by trip lengths
11

12. Mode share
12

13. Mode share
13

14. Beyond the commute
14

15. Beyond the commute
Census - commute only
short trips
trip-chaining
complex travel diaries
National Travel Survey
15

16. All trips
Commute
“Mobilities of care”
16

17. Leading by example
Women travel more sustainably: walking, cycling, or
take public transport nehmen (the typical family car
is male… it is a commuting/business car)
EU27
Civitas(2014)
17

18. From the academic message boards
Jan Garrard :
If you want to know if an urban
environment supports cycling,
you can forget about all the
detailed ‘bikeability indexes’—
just measure the proportion of
cyclists who are female
Quoted in Baker (2009) 18

19. Global context
Sources: graph: Garrard, J., et al. (2012). Women and cycling. City cycling. J. Pucher and R. Buehler,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
red : UK Census 2011, blue: VEP Bremen 2025
19

20. UK context
Source: Census 2011
20 / 18

21. Quo vadis?FrauenanteilbeimRadfahren
Radverkehrsanteil
Berlin
Tokyo
Städte in USA, UK, Aus, NZ
KOP
AMS
Kat I
Kat II
Kat III
21

22. Mode share
Newcastle + Gateshead Bremen
___________________________________________________________________
Population 490,000 550,000
Density person/km 2,000 1,700
Source: Wikipedia
22 / 18

23. Cycle infrastructure
Newcastle + Gateshead Bremen
___________________________________________________________________
Population 490,000 550,000
Density person/km 2,000 1,700
Source: Wikipedia
1 % 25%
23

24. Some sociology
Putting the social into the technocratic practices
of highway engineering and transport planning
24

25. Socialisation
Out lives are gendered. Women…
• Main care-giver (still)
• Escorting (school run), shopping, chores and errands
• More trips
• Trip-chaining
• Shorter distances
• Complex travel diaries
• Safety / security (vs) comfort / convenience
These trips in
High-cycling countries are cycled
Low-cycling countries done by car
25 / 18

26. Socialisation
26 / 18
Lehner-Lierz (1997)

27. These trips are cycled by choice in
• Amsterdam
• Copenhagen
Where cycling infrastructure offers
– inclusive
– equitable
– transport participation
– comfort
– convenience
– (safety and security)
Reading material: Eyer & Ferreira (2015)
27

28. These trips are cycled by choice in
Amsterdam
Copenhagen
… cycle cities
Where cycling
infrastructure offers the
necessary
comfort
convenience
(safety and security) Photo: Mark Treasure, CEoGB28

29. Photo: Marc van Woudenberg @amsterdamize29

30. 30

31. From the academic message boardsAldred(2015)
31

32. Monsereetal(2014)From the academic message boards
32

33. Gendered cycling?
Now Future
Number of people not cycling under current condition: 33

34. Gendered travel characteristics
34

35. Gendered cycling?
35

36. Interested but concerned
36

37. What’s needed?
New concepts
“Mobility of care”
Sanchez de Madariaga (2013)
37

38. The S.E.M.
38

39. Socio-ecological model
Barton & Grant (2006) 39

40. Contextualising the socio-ecological model
Myownresearch
40

41. Contextualising the socio-ecological model
Myownresearch
41

42. Acknowledge agency
Myownresearch
42

43. Acknowledge agency
Myownresearch
43

44. The cyclist you design
Myownresearch
44

45. Why is change so slow?
45

46. Fiona Spotswood et al (2015)
Despite significant national and local
efforts over the last decade to
stimulate uptake of cycling in the UK,
levels of cycling (particularly utility
cycling) remain at around 2% of
journeys
From the academic message boards
46
“stubbornly unshifting”

47. Dealing with marginalisation
Wesslowski (2015), “socio-technical system of automobility”: Urry (2004)
47

48. From above and from below
BasedonJensen(2013)
CYCLING
‘culture’
Automobility
Automobility
Automobility
Automobility
Polity & purse strings
Planning
Design
Regulations
Institutions
CIVIC SOCIETY
ORGANISATIONS
Social interaction
Individual performances
Solidarity
48

49. Segmentation of ‘the public’
Anable (2005)
49

50. Myownresearch
50

51. Myownresearch
51

52. Myownresearch
52

53. Myownresearch
53

54. Social dilemma
• Car dependent society
• Material alternatives currently limited (…only
as good as the nearest alternative)
• Neoliberal politics (big business first, detached
from citizens and their needs)
… The citizen you design
54

55. Politics
“…the politics of more for
everyone was far more
acceptable than the politics
of distribution”
House (2008:631)
55
Outcome
>> hypermobility
>> automobility

56. Herkömmliche Seitenstraße Fahrrad- und Fußgehen freundlich
• Radiusverkleinerung
• Verkürzung der Überquerungslänge
• Verringerung der Abbiegegeschwindigkeit
• Hochbau des Rad- und Fußweges
• Sichtlicher Vorrang
• Mehr Fläche für Rad und Fuß
Little things matter… design details
56

57. Taking position
Clear message:
To make cycling comfortable for all, we need a network of good
quality protected cycleways – inclusive for people of all ages
and abilities
• Direct, along main roads
• Space taken from carriageway
• Footway not compromised
For whom are we speaking (out) / designing?
57

58. More studies…
• To show that building cycleways works
i.e. increases transport cycling
• Segmentation of population: what do
people want?
58

59. Future. Suggestions.
Acknowledge the impact of urban design in
academic studies
… so the study is complete and complies with
the socio-ecological model
… and to avoid victim blaming (putting agency
where it cannot / ought not exist)
59

60. References
Aldred, Rachel. 2015. “Adults’ Attitudes towards Child Cycling: A Study of the Impact of Infrastructure.” European Journal of Transport and
Infrastructure Research 15 (2): 92–115.
Anable, Jillian. 2005. “‘Complacent Car Addicts’ or ‘Aspiring Environmentalists’? Identifying Travel Behaviour Segments Using Attitude
Theory.” Transport Policy 12 (1): 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2004.11.004.
Baker, Linda. 2009. “How to Get More Bicyclists on the Road.” Scientific American, September 21, 2009.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/getting-more-bicyclists-on-the-road/?page=1.
Barton, Hugh, and Marcus Grant. 2006. “A Health Map for the Local Human Habitat.” Journal of The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health
126 (6): 252–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466424006070466.
Civitas. 2014. “Smart Choices for Cities - Gender Equality and Mobility: Mind the Gap!” Policy Note. Civitas Policy Notes.
http://civitas.eu/sites/default/files/civ_pol-an2_m_web.pdf.
Eyer, Amanda, and Antonio Ferreira. 2015. “Taking the Tyke on a Bike: Mother’s; and Childless Women’s Space- Time Geographies in
Amsterdam Compared.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 47 (3): 691–708. https://doi.org/10.1068/a140373p.
Garrard, Jan, Susan Handy, and Jennifer Dill. 2012. “Women and Cycling.” In City Cycling, edited by John Pucher and Ralph Buehler. MIT Press.
House, Ernest R. 2008. “Qualitative Evaluation and Changing Social Policy.” In Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (3rd Edition),
edited by Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln. Sage Publications.
Jensen, Ole B. 2013. Staging Mobilities. Book, Whole. Routledge.
Lehner-Lierz, Ursula. 1997. “The Role of Cycling for Women.” In The Greening of Urban Transport: Planning for Walking & Cycling in Western
Cities, edited by Rodney Tolley. Wiley and Son.
Pooley, Colin G, Tim Jones, Miles Tight, Dave Horton, Griet Scheldeman, Caroline Mullen, Ann Jopson, and Emanuele Strano. 2013. Promoting
Walking and Cycling : New Perspectives on Sustainable Travel. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Pucher, John R., and Ralph Buehler. 2012. City Cycling. Book, Whole. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press.
Spotswood, Fiona, Tim Chatterton, Alan Tapp, and David Williams. 2015. “Analysing Cycling as a Social Practice: An Empirical Grounding for
Behaviour Change.” Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 29: 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2014.12.001.
Urry, J. 2004. “The ‘System’ of Automobility.” Theory, Culture & Society 21 (4–5): 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404046059.
Wesslowski, Viktoria. 2014. “Facilitating a Contested Practice: Building and Growing Urban Transport Cycling in Santiago de Chile.”
Manchester. https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/uk-ac-man-scw:224324. 60