Who benefits from cycling initiatives? An evaluation of perceived effectiveness and differences among population groups

This study explores the effectiveness of cycling initiatives in encouraging bicycle usage, and the relationship with sociodemographic characteristics amongst residents of the multi-cultural city of Auckland, New Zealand. The study considered regular cyclists, potential cyclists, as well as non-cyclists across demographic groups, including age, gender, income level, educational level, ethnicity, and bicycle user type to provide a holistic understanding of the association between the perceived effectiveness of cycling initiatives in encouraging bicycle usage. The results indicate that safety initiatives, including lighting improvements and vehicle safety features are perceived as being the most effective amongst all of the cycling initiatives proposed, and that younger people, Māori and Pacific people, and regular cyclists perceive higher levels of effectiveness in response to many of the cycling initiatives implemented. Moreover, findings indicate that many of the cycling initiatives are seen as more effective by some specific demographic groups who were not necessarily the intended target groups for the initiative, as envisaged by the experts tasked with their development and implementation. Also, for some demographic groups such as the elderly, women and non-cyclists, the perceived effectiveness of current cycling initiatives was found to be lower than was the case for the population as a whole, suggesting that the current cycling initiatives are not sufficiently focussed on these cycling disadvantaged groups, as they should to be in the interest of equity. This study aids in the design of better strategies by providing insights for policymakers and local governments to provide more equitable outcomes with respect to cycling.