Associations between urban form and cycling

The bikeability project has analysed the environmental correlates of cycling based on Danish National Transportation Survey data transportation and urban form micro-data; and based on a smaller sample of primary data which included housing preferences, policy and attitude variables. Analysis of National Travel Survey data indicated that established walkability factors such as density, connectivity and diversity are related to cycling, and that access to retail concentrations/centres, public transportation level-of-service, as well as competition between walking and cycling depending on environmental features can be added to the set of influential environmental factors. Attractive conditions for using public transportation or walking are related to less cycling. Highly relevant in the context of the promotion of cycling, the results suggest different effects of urban form on the probability of cycling and the distance cycled. A high probability of cycling generally implies short cycling distances, which leads to non-uniform, non-monotonous relations between environmental indicators such as walkability and total cycling. Further analysis of primary data allowing a consideration of attitudes and residential preferences indicated that environmental/urban form correlations or impacts upon cycling persist even when attitudes and transportation preferences related to the choice of residence is taken into consideration. Attitudes/preferences seem to be highly important in explaining weekly cycling rates – but does not rule out the importance of urban form.