Contributions Of Individual, Physical, And Social Environmental Factors To Bicycling: A Structural Equations Modeling Study Of Six Small U.S. Cities

Previous research has established an association between environmental factors and bicycling. However, empirical knowledge about the influences on bicycling, and relative importance to bicycling, of the physical and social environments as well as individual factors is limited. Additionally, the majority of bicycling in the US is for recreation rather than transportation purposes but few studies have examined the question of bicycling purpose. We use data from an online survey conducted in 2006 in Davis, CA, which has a high bicycling level, and five comparison small cities in the western US to examine the contributions of physical and social environments to bicycling. The study employs Structural Equations Modeling to assess the complex relationships between bicycling and environment while controlling for socio-demographics, travel constraints, and attitudinal factors