Publisher:
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Trinity Research in Social Sciences (TRiSS), Dublin
Abstract:
Switching from car to bicycle would reduce the environmental impact of personal travel and improvethe physical health of commuters. Cycling rates have been increasing in Ireland over the last tenyears, but there is now a large difference in maleandfemale participation-only about a quarter of cyclists on Irish roads are female. This paper explores what factors drive this "gender-cycling-gap",with the goal of identifying policies which will make cycling more accessible to females as a means of commuting. We combine the latest census data with ageospatialsurvey on cycle lane densityforDublin, and apply standard regression techniques. Specific attention is given to the role of cycling infrastructurein increasing participation rates.For both males and females, increased distance to city, living in an apartment and having young children reduce participation rates, while education has a strong positive effect. However, the effects of education, distance and apartment living areconsiderablystronger for women. Furthermore, areas with higher shares of female professionals, controlling for other factors, are found to have lower participation rates. We find no relationship between the provision of cycling infrastructure and participationwhich suggests that the provision of cycle lanes in their current form are possibly not meeting the needs of potential new cyclists and providing access to the key employment areas within the city.