Utility cycling encompasses any cycling done simply as a means of transport rather than as a sport or leisure activity. It is the original and most common type of cycling in the world. Cycling mobility is one of the various types of private transport and a major part of individual mobilities.
It also includes economic activity such as the delivering of goods or services. In cities, the bicycle courier is often a familiar feature, and are capable of competing with and particularly where many small deliveries are required, especially in congested areas. Cycle rickshaw can also provide a public transport service like and .
Utility cycling is known to have several social and economic benefits. Policy that encourage utility cycling have been proposed and implemented for reasons including: improved public health, Schantz P, Salier Eriksson, J, Rosdahl, H. 2020. Perspectives on exercise intensity, volume and energy expenditure in habitual cycle commuting. Front. Sports Act. Living 2:65 individual health and employers' profitsTNO, the Dutch institute for applied scientific research. More bicycling to work lowers sickness absence and saves employers 27 millions euro [2] accessed 1 February 2009 a reduction in traffic congestion and air pollution, improvements in road traffic safety, improved quality of life, improved mobility and social inclusiveness, and benefits to child development.
In the Chinese city of Beijing alone, there are an estimated four million in use (it has been estimated that in the early-1980s there were approximately 500 million cyclists in China). China ends 'bicycle kingdom' as embracing cars, China Daily, 2004-11-11 (Accessed 2007-01-26)Chinese look to bicycle to cure car headache, Irish Times 2006-06-17 As of 2000, there were an estimated 80 million bicycles in Japan, accounting for 17% of commuter trips,A Study on Measures to Promote Bicycle Usage in Japan, Hirotaka Koike, Akinori Morimoto, Kaoru Itoh, Department of Civil Engineering, Utsunomiya University Velomondial Conference Proceedings, Amsterdam 2000 and in the Netherlands, 27% of all trips are made by bicycle.
Cycling has been considered
Cycling mobility can be contrasted with mass automobility for which it is an immediate competitor in cities and for shorter distances.
Cities are a hotbed for experimenting with new bicycle-based forms of mobility like bicycle sharing, and transport of bulky goods with .
After decades of relative stagnation in bicycle development, new technologies and materials are tried to further improve upon the environmental footprint of the bicycle. Even though it is recognized that cycling - the one foremost active mobility besides walking - is the most sustainable kind of mobility and means of transportation, in some countries, cycling is still the mode of transport for the poor; in others, cycling is seen fit only for leisure purposes.
In a 2010 document requested by the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism that mobility not only entails the ability to travel, but also encompasses, more importantly, the possibility for the traveller to decide when and where to travel. In terms of this flexibility and cost, bicycles rank among the top choices for shorter distances, up to several kilometers.
Panniers or special luggage carriers (including waterproof packing bags) enable the transport of goods and are used for shopping. Parents sometimes add rear-mounted child seats and/or an auxiliary saddle fitted to the crossbar to transport children. Bicycle trailer of various types and load capacities may be towed to greatly increase cargo capacity. In many jurisdictions bicycles must be fitted with a bell; reflectors; and, after dark, front and rear bicycle lighting.
The use by cyclists of vests or armbands fluorescence in daylight or retroreflector at night can increase a cyclist's conspicuity, although these are not an alternative to a legally compliant lighting system. A report on the promotion of walking and cycling (Hydén, et al., 1999) discussed safety clothing and equipment and stated that "there is no doubt that both pedestrian reflectors and bicycle helmets are reducing the injury risk of their users quite considerably",
Factors affecting cycling levels may include: town planning (including quality of infrastructure: cyclist "friendly" vs. cyclist "hostile"), trip-end facilities (particularly secure parking), retail policy, marketing the public image of cycling, integration with other transport modes, cycle training, terrain (hilly vs. flat), distance to destinations, levels of motorized transport and climate as well as cost. In developed countries cycling has to compete with, and work with, alternative transport modes such as private cars, public transport and walking. Thus cycling levels are not influenced just by the attractiveness of cycling alone, but also by what makes the competing modes more or less attractive.
In developed countries with high utility cycling levels, utility cyclists tend to undertake relatively short journeys. According to Irish 1996 Census data, over 55% of cycling workers travelled 3 miles (4.8 km) or less, 27% 5 miles (8 km) or less and only 17% travelled more than 5 miles in their daily commute. It can be argued that factors that directly influence trip length or journey time are among the most important in making cycling a competitive transport mode. Car ownership rates can also be influential. In New York City, more than half of all households do not own a car (the figure is even higher in Manhattan, over 75%), and walk/bicycle modes of travel account for 21% of all modes for trips in the city.Putative source according to the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey
E-bike use was shown to increase the distance cycled for commuting as well as the amount of physical activity among E-bike users in seven European cities.
Decisions taken by various levels of government, as well as local groups, residents' organizations and public- and private-sector employers, can all affect the so-called "modal choice" or "modal split" in daily transport. In some cases, various factors may be manipulated in a manner that deliberately seeks to encourage or discourage various transport modes, including cycling.
The League of American Bicyclists has designated a set of five criteria for evaluating the friendliness of a town or city to bicycles. These criteria are classified under the headings of: Engineering, Encouragement, Evaluation and Planning, Education, Enforcement.
Settlements that provide a dense road network consisting of grid plan will tend to be viable utility cycling environments. In contrast, other communities may use a cul-de-sac based, housing estate/housing subdivision model where minor roads are disconnected and only feed into a street hierarchy of progressively more "arterial" type roads. Such communities may discourage cycling by imposing unnecessary detours and forcing all cyclists onto arterial roads, which may be perceived as busy and dangerous, for all trips regardless of destination or purpose. Manual for Streets, UK Department for Transport, 2007
There is evidence that people who live in such estates are heavier than people who live in places where walking and cycling are more convenient. It is also reported that the extra motor-traffic such communities generate tends to increase overall per-capita traffic casualty rates. Designs that propose to resolve the contradiction between the cul-de-sac and the traditional interconnected network, such as the Fused Grid, have been proposed and built with varying levels of success.Durning 1996 cited in Safe Travels, Evaluating Mobility Management Traffic Safety Impacts by Todd Litman & Steven Fitzroy Victoria Transport Policy Institute, 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA Particular issues have arisen with personal security and public order problems in some housing schemes using "back alley" or "back garden" type links. The UK Manual for Roads (2007) states: "The basic tenet is 'public fronts and private backs'. Ideally, and certainly, in terms of crime prevention, back gardens should adjoin other back gardens or a secure communal space. ... If streets are bounded by back-garden fences or hedges, security problems can increase, drivers may be encouraged to speed, land is inefficiently used, and there is a lack of a sense of place."
Cycling is a common mode of transport in the Netherlands, with 36% of the people listing the bicycle as their most frequent mode of transport on a typical day as opposed to the car by 45% and public transport by 11%. Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide.
This high modal share for bicycle travel is enabled by unusually flat topography, excellent cycling infrastructure such as , , protected intersections, ample bicycle parking and by making cycling routes shorter, quicker and more direct than car routes.
In the countryside, a growing number of inter-city bicycle paths connect the Netherlands' villages, towns and cities: some of these paths are part of the Dutch National Cycle Network, a network of routes for Bicycle touring which reaches all corners of the nation.
In cities modal share for bicycles is even higher, such as Amsterdam which has 38%.
Cycling infrastructure attempts to maximise cyclists safety against the other road users. There is, however, a lack of published evidence identifying a change in rates of collisions after implementation of cycling infrastructure.
Further following positive aspects are:
As with other sellers of Final goods, the car industry's marketing efforts frequently try to associate the use of their product with a perception of increased social status. Observers in some car-focused cultures have noted a tendency to perceive or portray people who use bicycles as members of a social "out-group" with attributed negative connotations.Drivers' perceptions of cyclists, Basford, Reid, Lester, Thomson and Tolmie, TRL Report TRL549, Transport Research Laboratory, 2002 In such cultures, such attitudes are displayed in attacks on cyclists in the media. Common themes include blanket descriptions of cyclists as a group who do not pay taxes, who break the law and who have no, or reduced, "right" to use public roads. Anti-cyclist media bias Wheels of Justice (Accessed 2 December 2007)
Negative aspects are:
It is arguable that in such a retail/planning policy environment use of bicycles ceases to be a viable option for many shoppers and access to a private motor-car or public transport becomes a necessary prerequisite for access to basic services.
In the United Kingdom, the now superseded National Cycle Proficiency scheme was focused on primary schoolchildren aged 8 and above. In this, children would start by gaining an off-road certificate working up to their on-road certificate by the age of ten. Initial training and examination took place on simulated road layouts within school playgrounds. This approach has now been supplemented by the new National Standard for cycle training which is more focussed on practical on-road training. Bikeability – The new National Standard for Cycle Training, Cycling England, 2006 (Accessed 2007-02-22) This is part of Cycling England's portfolio of practical assistance to local authorities and other bodies, aimed at achieving their aim of "More cycling, more safely, more often". More people cycling, more safely, more often, Cycling England, 2006 (Accessed 2007-02-22)
In the United States, the League of American Bicyclists Smart Cycling 101/201 courses, based on the Effective Cycling program, has modules aimed at all ages from children to adult beginners to more experienced adults. It is argued that such schemes do not just build confidence in the students but also make it more likely that parents will let their children cycle to school. Cycle training may also be offered in an attempt to overcome cultural unfamiliarity with cycling or perceived cultural obstacles to bicycle use. In the Netherlands, some cycle training courses are targeted at women from immigrant communities, as a means of overcoming such obstacles to cycling by women from developing countries.Get on your bike! Bicycle- and traffic lessons for foreigners in Tilburg, the Netherlands, Angela van der Kloof, Centre for Foreign Women, Velomondial Conference Proceedings, Amsterdam 2000
History
The bicycle and the cyclist's equipment
Factors that influence levels of utility cycling
Town planning
Cycling infrastructure
Marketing: the public image of cycling
Positive marketing of cycling
Negative marketing of utility cycling
Retail policy
Alternative retail policies
Cycle training
User associations
Free bicycle/short term hire schemes
Influence of technology
See also
Notes
Bibliography
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