Abstract
Harsh winters reduce utilitarian cycling in many cities. Using an online survey, we examined how increasing rolling resistance due to snow and ice affect people’s cycling willingness. The respondents (N = 1318) reported their willingness to cycle on various winter cycling conditions presented in photos. The answers were compared to the rolling resistance levels on the presented conditions, measured in a previous study. Respondents’ cycling willingness dropped from 91.2% at very low to 18.3% at very high rolling resistances. The cyclist’s age, gender, local climate, winter cycling experience and studded tire use affected the cycling willingness significantly. Electric bike usage did not affect cycling willingness. “Summer-only” cyclists did not cycle during the winter due to low temperatures (29%), lacked feeling of safety (27%), bicycle wear (17%), increased travel time (17%) and increased physical effort (10%). Hence, lower rolling resistance and increased use of studded tires can increase the cycling frequency of existing winter cyclists. To recruit new winter cyclists, the surface conditions should not only offer a low rolling resistance but should also be perceived as safe and comfortable.
Highlights
The number of both recreational and utilitarian bicycle trips often drops significantly during the winter months
The first main finding in this study is that the willingness to cycle during the winter, represented with the cycling willingness index (CWI), decreases significantly with increasing rolling resistances for all respondent groups
This study investigated the correlation between people’s stated willingness to cycle on different winter cycling conditions shown in photos and the rolling resistance level measured on the same conditions
Summary
The number of both recreational and utilitarian bicycle trips often drops significantly during the winter months. This is especially the case in the Nordic countries [1, 6, 15, 40] and some parts of Northern America with harsh winters [3, 21, 42, 46]. Fournier et al [22] found that in areas with harsh winters (in the northern hemisphere), the seasonal bicycle usage can be estimated with a sinusoidal model peaking on July 1 and being at the minimum on January 1. There is a widespread political desire to increase bicycle usage throughout the year because it can relieve the pressure on overcrowded metros and buses [49]. More cycling leads to benefits in terms of public health, travel-time reliability, cost-effectiveness, reduced
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