{"id":2603,"date":"2019-09-23T02:15:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T02:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/?p=2603"},"modified":"2019-09-24T16:33:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T16:33:18","slug":"to-increase-bike-commuters-look-to-neighborhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2019\/09\/23\/to-increase-bike-commuters-look-to-neighborhoods\/","title":{"rendered":"To increase bike commuters, look to neighborhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New research shows downtown and campus dwellers more likely to travel by bicycle<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"New<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

by Laura Arenschield, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/news.osu.edu\/to-increase-bike-commuters-look-to-neighborhoods\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>New research indicates that a person\u2019s neighborhood may play a large role in influencing the decision to commute by bike. The study could give city and regional planners new clues about how to design neighborhoods, streets and bike trails with active commuting in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People agree that bike commuting improves health, reduces air pollution and eases traffic, a recent survey suggests. But that wasn\u2019t enough to get most people to commute by bike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New research indicates that a person\u2019s neighborhood may play a large role in influencing the decision to commute by bike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study<\/a>, published recently in the Journal of Transport and Land Use<\/em>, could give city and regional planners new clues about how to design neighborhoods, streets and bike trails with active commuting in mind, said Yujin Park, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at The Ohio State University Knowlton School of Architecture<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBicycling contributes to urban vitality and, as a planner, I was interested in what the most influencing factors could be to make people be willing to choose a bicycle to commute,\u201d Park said. \u201cWe are interested in the urban factors that make a person ride a bicycle more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study found that people who live in high-density, mixed-use neighborhoods\u2014the kinds of neighborhoods found in vibrant downtowns or near large college campuses\u2014are more likely to commute by bike than their peers in suburban or rural areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those findings held even in suburban neighborhoods residents considered \u201cbike friendly.\u201d The study found that people who live in those neighborhoods might ride bikes for recreation or fun, but are less likely to commute to jobs or classes by bike than their peers who live in higher-density parts of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study was based on a survey of 1,200 people who commuted to Ohio State, one of the nation\u2019s largest public universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 12.6 percent of those people classified themselves as bicyclists, and about 5.4 percent reported that a bicycle is their main mode of transportation to campus. People who lived in high-density areas were more than twice as likely to commute by bike as people in medium-density areas\u2014and more than three times as likely to commute by bike as people in suburban areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both bicyclists and non-bicyclists in the survey agreed that bicycling reduced environmental impacts of commuting, created health benefits and would save money, indicating that recognizing the benefits of bicycling is not a strong enough motivator to push non-bicyclists to start commuting on two wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, most bicyclists surveyed said they would commute by bike more frequently if they had access to more bike trails, bike-sharing opportunities and covered parking for their bikes at home or at work and school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-bicyclists who lived in high-density neighborhoods appeared to be more concerned about safety\u2014both from other vehicles and from crime\u2014when traveling by bike than their peers who commute by bike.\u201c<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people who live in those higher-density neighborhoods are the most likely to commute by bike. Removing obstacles for them might make the most sense for where we invest our resources.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yujin Park<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous studies about bike commuting decisions have looked individually at commuters\u2019 attitudes about bike commuting and at their psychological perceptions about bike commuting. This research combines those attitudes and perceptions with neighborhood data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe conditional willingness to ride a bicycle to commute gradually decreases from high-density neighborhoods to low-density, single-family neighborhoods,\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the findings indicate that if campus, city and regional planners want to increase the percentage of people commuting by bike, they might want to target public investment in protected bike lanes, bike paths and bike parking near downtown and campus areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Columbus, which won the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s first-ever Smart City Challenge grant, was awarded $50 million to improve mobility throughout central Ohio. Ohio State has been working<\/a> with city leaders to increase sustainable transportation to, from and around campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people who live in those higher-density neighborhoods are the most likely to commute by bike,\u201d Park said. \u201cRemoving obstacles for them might make the most sense for where we invest our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This new research is pivotal in creating new infrastructure in Columbus. Making use of real research is key in making sure the new facilities are both adequate for the need and located in the proper areas. With cycling on the rise as a tool for commuting, safety is paramount to encouraging its increased usage.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New research shows downtown and campus dwellers more likely to travel by bicycle by Laura Arenschield, 2019 https:\/\/news.osu.edu\/to-increase-bike-commuters-look-to-neighborhoods\/ New research indicates that a person\u2019s neighborhood may play a large role in influencing the decision to commute by bike. The study could give city and regional planners new clues about how to design neighborhoods, streets and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":3368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2603"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2823,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603\/revisions\/2823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}