Deterrents
As with the investigation into motivations, deterrents are likewise assumed to have a strong influence on how individuals regard Route 100 as well as whether and when they choose to ride a bicycle. Possible deterrents listed on the survey address both emotional considerations as well as preferences for physical conditions.Deterrents for Bicycling
The results on deterrents for riding a bicycle in general are relatively comparable among five of the six possible responses listed on the survey. A total of 34.3% of respondents reported that absolutely nothing deters them from riding a bicycle. Users riding only one segment of the route account for the highest proportion of respondents stating that nothing prevents them from riding a bicycle, comprising 35.59% of individuals selecting this response. The presence of hill or complicated topography is the second most common deterrent, reported by 30.81% of respondents. Those respondents who ride the entire length of Route 100 comprise the group most frequently reporting topography as a deterrent, with 21.43% of this type of user indicating that this reason keeps them from riding their bicycle.Similar to the inclusion of safe bicycling situations as a possible motivation for riding a bicycle, the survey included the emotional fear of getting into accidents with both motorized and non-motorized roadway users as possible deterrents. The fear of accidents with motorized vehicles, described as personal vehicles and buses, is the third most common deterrent selected by survey respondents. Regular route users of the entire route and those who only use one portion of the Route 100 are the two types of users most frequently deterred by a concern for having an accident with motorized vehicles, accounting for 36.73% and 32.65% of respondents expressing this fear respectively. Former regular users of Route 100 are less deterred by this fear, with this group of users accounting for 22.45% of individuals reporting this deterrent. A concern for potential accidents with non-motorized vehicles, described as other bicyclists and pedestrians, is the least common of the deterrents included on the survey, comprising only 9.3% of responses. Of this small percentage, 43.75% of those indicating a fear of accidents with non-motorized vehicles are current users of all Route 100, another 31.25% are users of a portion of the route, and 18.8% are former route users.
Ranking just under the fear of accidents with motorized vehicles, 24.42% of respondents indicated that time spent waiting for lights to change at intersections can be a deterrent preventing them from riding a bicycle. Those respondents who use the entire length of Route 100 are far more deterred by the wait time at traffic lights than other users, accounting for 42.86% of responses. Users of only a portion of the route only account for 21.43% of respondents selecting this deterrent. Another 22.67% reported that the need to cross intersections is also a deterrent, which may be related to a fear of accidents with motorized vehicular traffic.
Respondents who anticipate becoming future riders of Route 100 reported very few deterrents to riding a bicycle. This type of users only comprise 1.74% of all responses for general deterrents for riding a bicycle and this group of respondents reported only the top three most common deterrents. Survey respondents that are not users of Route 100, not surprisingly, report a greater number of deterrents than future users. This group accounts for 11.63% of reported deterrents and rank the possibilities in the same order as the overall population of respondents.
The most prevalent write-in response to the question of what deters respondents, in general, from riding a bicycle is the incidence of bad weather conditions. A total of 12.21% of respondents expressed that rain, wind, snow, and ice can prevent them from bicycling on a given day. In fact, some respondents indicated that weather has the largest influence over whether the select to travel by bicycle. Similar to this write-in response, another 0.58% of respondents stated that when snow is not cleared from the bicycle path during the winter, they do not feel comfortable riding.
As with the unintentional exclusion of affordability as a motivator, the research team admits that failing to include weather conditions on the survey is an unfortunate oversight. During interviews with Route 100 users, individuals reported that weather is a large determining factor in choosing to ride when they have the option to use an alternative mode. However, because it was not listed on the survey, this research cannot accurately assess the how weather conditions compare to other deterrents for riding a bicycle.
Just as respondents indicated that the provision of pavement markings for bicycles can motivate individuals to ride their bicycle, the lack of pavement markings was written-in by 2.91% of respondents as a deterrent for riding. Another 1.74% of respondents indicated that personal discomfort during and after a bicycle ride might prevent them from traveling by bicycle. This was related either to a distaste to feel sweaty or be required to wear a different type of clothing while riding than is necessary once they are at their given destination. The distance of a trip was also listed as potential deterrent by 1.16% of respondents. Some individuals indicated that they elect to walk when distances are short and will choose a motorized mode when the distance is longer then they prefer to ride. The duality of this write-in response subtly ties to the SMART Mobilities Strategy developed by Aalborg Municipality. This strategy aims to develop a mobilities system that accommodates whichever the most convenient and sustainable mode of transportation is for any given trip, as opposed to dictating that one mode is always the best to use.
Deterrents for Using Route 100
When focusing in what deters respondents to use Route 100 specifically, the response of nothing acting as a deterrent is more universal. A total of 46.51% of respondents indicated that nothing prevents them from using Route 100. This was also the most common deterrent reported by most types of Route 100 users, with individuals riding the entire route, a portion of the route, and former riders accounting for 36.25%, 25%, and 27.5% those selecting this option respectively. The only respondents that did not express being deterred by nothing are those individuals who are not yet users, but plan to be in the future.Following the same ranking as deterrents for riding a bicycle in general, the presence of hills and slopes is cited as the second most common reason that Route 100 is not used by 22.67% of respondents. The majority of respondents that consider the topography to be an issue are those who ride the whole route, comprising 41.03% of individuals deterred by hills. Another 16.28% of all respondents reported that they are deterred from riding Route 100 because there are too many vehicles driving near to the route.
Only 14.53% of respondents express that a fear of having an accident with a motorized vehicle is a deterrent from using Route 100. This means that 13.96% fewer respondents indicate that they worry about an accident with a motor vehicle on Route 100 than when riding a bicycle in general. Similarly, 15.12% fewer respondents reported that time spent waiting at a traffic light is a deterrent for using Route 100 than was reported for bicycling in general. Of the 9.3% of respondents that do consider wait time a deterrent, 62.5% are individuals who use the entire length of the route.
In keeping with the pattern that deterrents are not as strongly felt along Route 100, 18.6% fewer respondents indicated that the number of intersections that must be crossed along Route 100 is a deterrent as well as 3.49% fewer expressing a concern that they may have an accident with another non-motorized traveler. In fact, 11.55% fewer deterrents, overall, were reported for using Route 100 than for riding a bicycle in general. This difference illustrates that the reason that respondents might not select to use Route 100 is more related their larger concerns regarding riding a bicycle, than specific issues with Route 100 itself.
As is the case for general deterrents for riding a bicycle, the most common write-in deterrent for riding Route 100 is bad weather. A total of 5.23% respondents indicate that weather is a determining factor in their choice to ride the route, with 44.44% of individuals reporting weather as a deterrent are former Route 100 users. This is 6.98% fewer than the number of respondents who wrote-in expressing that weather is a deterrent for riding a bicycle in general.
The only other write-in deterrent for using Route 100 is that the route itself is inconvenient, which was reported by 2.33% of respondents. An equal number of all types of users conveyed that they are deterred from using Route 100 because it is not the best route for the trip, with the exception of those respondents who anticipate becoming future users of Route 100. Not including the alignment of Route 100 as a deterrent is an additional oversight that the research team regrets not including on the list of deterrents. During the interviews that took place after the survey closed, it was learned that many individuals do in fact have ideas of better alignment for the route. Just as it is impossible to compare the weight of weather as a deterrent to those listed in the survey, however, this research is also unable to accurately state how much of a deterrent alignment is compared to the other deterrents.
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