Abstract
In order to encourage a shift from the car to the more sustainable transport mode of cycling, cycle streets have been implemented in cities all over the world in the last few years. In these shared streets, the entire carriageway is designated for cyclists, while motorized traffic is subordinated. However, evidence on the impact of cycle street interventions related to travel behavior change has been limited until now. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether cycle streets are an effective measure to facilitate bicycle use and discourage car use, thus contributing to the aim of promoting sustainable travel. For this purpose, we conducted a written household survey in the German city of Offenbach am Main involving participants affected by a cycle street intervention (n = 701). Based on two stage models of self-regulated behavioral change (SSBC), we identified the participants’ level of willingness to use a bicycle frequently and to reduce car use. By means of bivariate and multivariate statistical methods, we analyzed the influence of awareness, use, and perceptions of the cycle street on the willingness to change behavior towards more sustainable travel. The results show that the intervention has a positive impact on frequent bicycle use, while we observed only a limited effect on car use reduction. Traffic conflicts and car speeding within the cycle street adversely affect the acceptance of the intervention. The study’s findings provide new insights into the actual effects of a cycle street and its potential to encourage sustainable travel behavior.
Highlights
Private car use still dominates everyday travel behavior in many regions of the world [1]
In order to evaluate the possible effects of the cycle street implementation on individual mobility, survey items referring to cycling and car use travel behavior and attitudes were taken into account (Table 7)
The results show that frequent bicycle use is significantly more common within the Senefelder neighborhood where the cycle street intervention is taking place. 62% of the respondents in the Senefelder neighborhood stated to ride a bike frequently in summer; in winter still a share of 35%
Summary
Private car use still dominates everyday travel behavior in many regions of the world [1]. In view of persistent population growth and urbanization processes, urban areas in particular have to face the negative impacts of further increases in individual motorized transport These include congestion and extensive land use as well as air pollution and traffic noise affecting health [2,3,4,5]. The concept of cycle streets that emerged in several countries within recent years aims to facilitate bicycle use and to discourage motorized traffic at the same time [12,13,14] It is an approach counteracting present car dependency by fostering non-motorized alternatives, similar to other environmental developments focusing on the improvement of bikeability or walkability in urban areas involving bicycle paths and footpaths, safe crossings, and aesthetic elements [15,16,17]
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