Quantitative and qualitative aspects of barriers to bicycle use for adults from Curitiba, Brazil

• Published in: Revista brasileira de cineantropometria & desempenho humano Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 29 - 42
• Main Authors: Kienteka, Marilson, de Camargo, Edina Maria, Fermino, Rogério César, Reis, Rodrigo Siqueira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Florianopolis Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Desportos 2018; Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
• Subjects: Bicycling; Commuting; Focus groups; SPORT SCIENCES; Brazil; Qualitative research; Atividade motora; Fatores epidemiológicos; Estudos epidemiológicos; Bicycling; Motor activity; Análise quantitativa; Epidemiologic factors; Epidemiologic studies; Ciclismo; Pesquisa qualitativa; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 1415-8426; 1980-0037; 1980-0037
• DOI: 10.5007/1980-0037.2018v20n1p29

The implementation of bicycling promotion programs should consider the barriers to this behavior. The aim of this study was to quantitative and qualitatively characterize barriers to leisure and commuting bicycle use for adults from Curitiba, Brazil. The first phase comprised a cross-sectional household survey involving 677 adults (53% women). Of these, 16.7% and 11.2% reported leisure and commuting bicycle use, respectively. Then, 24 bicycle users (50% women) were recruited and participated in focus group interviews. The content of answers was analyzed with a conceptual matrix. The most reported barriers to leisure bicycle use were “bad weather” (65.5%), “heavy traffic” (53.1%), “lack of bike lanes” (48.7%) and “lack of security “(44.2%). In commuting, the most reported were “bad weather” (69.7%), “heavy traffic”, “lack of safety” and “fear of accidents” (51.3% each). The comparative analysis between barriers reported in the survey and those reported in the focus groups showed a combination of seven of the 11 barriers reported in questionnaires. Some of the barriers identified in the survey were not mentioned in the focus groups (“poor street quality”, “pollution”, “not having a bicycle”, “lack of parking”, “distance to destinations”). The main barriers to bicycle use are related to physical environment and safety aspects, regardless of approach adopted and purpose of use.