Factors Affecting Potential Cyclists in the UBC Community
Creators: name: Ali, Hamza
name: Courtney, Cassa
name: Lam, Caitlyn
name: Ng, Asahi
name: Reiter, Emma
name: Yeung, Walter
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2020

description: Cycling is a form of active transportation that represents a cost-effective, healthy, and environmentally friendly form of commuting (Bungum, Lounsberry, Moonie &amp; Gast, 2008; Haapala, 2013; Gilderbloom, Grooms, Mog, and Meares, 2015; Hopkins &amp; Mandic, 2016). The University of British Columbia (UBC) has engaged in research and initiatives to encourage individuals to partake in cycling through the Cycling in Cities Research Group, and Campus Community + Planning. However, about 75% of the UBC community have still never engaged in this beneficial form of active transportation and there are likely many different reasons why (Mathewson &amp; Cheyne, 2017). Distance and topography stood out as significantly salient to potential cyclists, and given the geographical positioning of UBC, it is important to determine whether these factors influence the large proportion of community members that have never cycled (Winters &amp; Cooper, 2008). Therefore, through collaboration with SEEDS partners, we were interested in analyzing what deterrents prevented these potential cyclists from biking to campus despite the benefits cycling may have. Potential cyclists were the main population of interest in the study. A quantitative research study was conducted through evaluating a diverse population of UBC community members including students, staff and faculty members. Based on findings from past studies conducted in Vancouver, a survey was designed to analyze the trends of demographics, biking history, the relative weight of deterrents, and incentives or resources that would motivate them to bike to campus. Open-response questions were also included to identify cycling deterrents that may not have been considered. All UBC community members were invited to participate regardless of cycling history, and we specifically compared results of those with a history of cycling (cyclists) to those with no experience cycling to campus (potential cyclists). Over four weeks, data was collected from 84 undergraduate and graduate students between the ages of 18 to 36 years of age. As expected, the results indicated that a large proportion of the sample had never biked to campus and, surprisingly, about half of these potential cyclists would not consider biking to campus. While the major deterrents for cyclists with a previous history were weather, lack of facilities, and safety, the major deterrents identified for potential cyclists were weather, distance, and challenging topography. These differences could be attributed to differences in experience, and also may be related to the general location of residence, as potential cyclists were much more likely to live 15-20+ km from campus, which was also a major trend in open-responses. Despite these varied deterrents, many respondents indicated that incentives such as more protected bike lanes, incentive programs, bike storage, and resources on campus would increase their likelihood to cycle to campus. With consideration of our findings, we have provided five recommendations for UBC Campus + Community Planning to consider implementing at UBC in order to encourage more people to bike to campus. Such recommendations include advocating for protected bike lanes, poster campaigns to change biking attitudes, creating more bike facilities on campus, education workshop series to inform and teach practical skills to potential cyclists, and incentive services. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”