01556680

Component

Cities and communities invest in cycling programs to promote public health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate traffic. In twenty-five qualitative interviews with residents of a predominantly Latina/o community California, the authors explore the personal motivations and barriers to cycling among volunteers for and participants of a folding bike loan program. The diverse sample represents a broad cross-section of a small farm town, ranging from a local minister to a prison parolee, a school counselor to staff of a county social service agency. The authors find residents are motivated by concerns for personal and familial wellbeing, including stress reduction, physical health and having a prosocial activity to do with family. Residents expressed a sense of freedom, independence and pride derived from cycling for leisure and utilitarian transportation. Many immigrants related their experiences cycling in California to cycling in Mexico, describing cycling in mixed traffic in the United States as much easier and relaxing than cycling where they grew up. Participants generally had positive or neutral attitudes about driving, but found automobile ownership and maintenance burdensome. Results suggest campaigns to promote cycling among women, immigrants, working families and communities of color will benefit from linking the financial and health benefits of cycling to a broader narrative of personal empowerment, self-sufficiency and lifestyle satisfaction. Results also demonstrate great potential for folding bikes to reduce several major barriers to cycling for working families, including lack of safe storage space, lack of confidence riding large bikes, and the shortage of bike racks on public buses.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF20 Bicycle Transportation. Alternate title: “There’s Something About the Breeze on Your Face”: Motivations and Obstacles Faced by Cyclists in Diverse Farm Town.

01550057

15-5716

English

13p

2015

Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Photos; References; Tables

Bicycle travel; Bicycling; Campaigns; Immigrants; Low income groups; Mode choice; Motivation; Promotion; Rural areas; Small towns

Mexicans

California

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2015 Paper #15-5716

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 30 2014 1:55PM