The link between socioeconomic position, access to cycling infrastructure and cycling participation rates: An ecological study in Melbourne, Australia

Objective: Promoting cycling has moved up the policy agenda in recent years, but debate still exists surrounding the role played by socioeconomic barriers to participation in low cycling countries. This ecological study aimed to examine whether there are systematic socioeconomic disparities in access to cycling infrastructure and investment in Melbourne, Australia. Methods: We used Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to measure the density of on-road, off-road and informal cycling routes in 58 neighbourhoods of inner Melbourne. We examined whether small-area socioeconomic indicators were associated with the density of these three types of cycling infrastructure or with local government spending on cycling. We additionally examined how small-area socioeconomic position and infrastructure density were associated with the prevalence of cycling to work in the 2011 census. Results: The density of on- and off-road cycling infrastructure was positively associated with cycle modal share (both p