ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION MODES: COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN COPENHAGEN AND PATRAS

Nikolaos Tsakas – s081631 (Exchange student at DTU Transport)

SUPERVISOR: INGER MARIE BERNHOFT

DTU Transport Technical University of Denmark

6 APRIL 2009

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AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

After the completion of a so long effort, I feel the necessity and the desire to thank all these people that stayed by my side during the pleasant moments and helped me during the difficult ones. Their presence created a very pleasant living environment and their support provided me excellent circumstances to continue working undistracted.

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, mrs. Inger Marie Bernhoft. She was

really there every time I needed something, from the simplest until the most complicated, always with accurate and important advice. Also, she provided me all her experience and guided me correctly every time I was pondering or confused. Additionally, I find it necessary to thank Stefan Mabit for his extremely valuable help in the econometrical part of my thesis

Moreover, I should thank Anne Eriksson, Niels Jensen and Ulrik Djupdraet, all of

them are servants in the Municipality of Copenhagen and helped me very much with their valuable advice and also with the confidence they treated me, providing me very useful data for my project.

Furthermore, I owe a special thank to Allan Larsen for two reasons. Firstly, without

his help I would not have managed to come at DTU. Secondly, for his useful advice in any problem I confronted during my stay here.

In addition to these, I would like to thank all my friends and my “containermates”

here at Lyngby, for the endless days and nights we spent together and the invaluable support they provided me in every difficult moment during the last 6 months. It is maybe space consuming, but I really feel to thank separately Kike, Reynald, Pablo, Guillermo, Renato, Pedro, Teresa, Ramon, Ramex, Jo(h)an, Dimitris, Vicky, Giwrgos, Poet and all the others that know that they belong to that list.

Of course, I cannot forget my friends from Greece and the telephone support they

were providing me all this time. Amalia, Gianni, Alexi & Alexi, I really thank you all. And last but for sure not least, I keep special thanks for my parents Thoma kai

Roula, that are always by my side, supporting me in every decision and desire. But most of all, my brother who is the first and the last person I would ever ask for anything in my life. Liako thanks for being always there.

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ABSTRACT

Nowadays, the opinion supporting that the citizens of big urban areas should change their transport habits is going from strength to strength. The problems caused by the extended use of private motor vehicles, tend to prove that it is indispensable to turn our attention to more vulnerable transport modes. Social problems, as congestion and environmental pollution, combined with personal problems, such as lack of training and isolation, creating the prospect that if the vulnerable transport modes, and mostly the bicycle, become attractive and competent to the traditional modes, the social and individual benefits will be very important.

Nevertheless, in order to encourage the citizens to change their habits, we must

provide them the appropriate circumstances. In some places around Europe, like Copenhagen, the conditions achieve already a high level, resulting to the positive response of the citizens. However, in some other places, like Patras, there are no special conditions that encourage citizens to cycle or to walk. In the first occasion we need to propose some measures that will keep improving the status of bicycle in the transport network. In the second occasion, we need to apply fundamental actions focused on the construction of appropriate facilities and the traffic education of the people, concerning the circulation of vulnerable road users.

During this study, we focus only on the improvement of cycling conditions, because

bicycle is easier to become competent against the other modes and mostly car. At first, we record the existing situation of Copenhagen, focusing on special regulations that favor the cyclists. Afterwards, the observations are associated with the opinion of a specific part of the citizens. Specifically, based on a prototype questionnaire, we request the opinion of numerous students of DTU about the cycling conditions and their road behavior as cyclists.

Moreover, we attempt to determine the personal characteristics that make a citizen

more likely to be attracted to cycle. The tool, for this effort is another set of data, more representative this time. We run a multinomial logit model, using as explanatory variables several personal characteristics and we predict the preferred transport mode for each citizen. The results from the two investigations are interesting, thus they provide important information about the problems that still concern the cyclists, as well as they reveal those population groups that tend to prefer cycling and they can constitute better target groups for further promotion of cycling, in the near future.

Furthermore, we handle the situation of Patras, recording again the situation and

pointing on the absence of adequate facilities, we try to export some proposals that will make the city more bicycle friendly. The opinion of the citizens plays crucial role again. Another questionnaire, focused more on qualitative values, depicted the conditions that the usual cyclists confront. The elaboration of the facts leads to the proposition of a specific plan, which aims to establish bicycle tracks in a route which connects the center of the city with the University area and also the implementation of some measures that will assure the normal introduction of bicycle in the traffic environment of the city.

Concluding, this study provides some special results for each situation, which

cannot be used easily to other places, but also it provides some useful guidelines about the important factors that affect the cycling conditions of a city. These factors are sufficient, but if we want to sum up the whole results in two words, those would be INFRASTRUCTURE and EDUCATION.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 6 2. DEVELOPMENT OF CYCLING IN COPENHAGEN 9 3. EXISTENT CYCLING SITUATION IN COPENHAGEN 13 3.1 Infrastructure 13 3.1.1 Cycle tracks, Cycle lanes & Green cycle routes 14 3.1.2 National bicycle paths network 18 3.1.3 Bicycle traffic signs 19 3.1.4 Bicycle Parking 20 3.1.5 Connection with the Public Transport 21 3.1.6 Maintenance 21 3.2 Education 21 3.2.1 Guidelines of education 21 3.2.2 Traffic education plan 22 3.2.3 Lifelong education 23 3.3 Safety 23 3.4 Measures that improved the cycling conditions 24 3.4.1 Traffic lights 1: Separate periods for the bicycles 25 3.4.2 Traffic lights 2: Schedule according to the average speed of bicycles 25 3.4.3 Traffic calming 26 3.4.4 Junctions 28 3.4.4.1 Blue lanes 28 3.4.4.2 Recessed stop lines 28 3.4.4.3 Short cuts 29 3.5 Proposals for further improvement of the cycling conditions 29 4. SPECIAL PROJECTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF CYCLING 31 4.1 Bicycle Account 31 4.2 Cycle Policy 32 4.3 City Bikes 32 4.4 ADONIS 33 5. A SURVEY ABOUT STUDENTS’ CYCLING HABITS 34 5.1 Aim of the survey 34 5.2 Survey sampling method & Data collection 34 5.3 Results 35 5.3.1 Ownership of bicycle 35 5.3.2 Safety & infrastructure 37 5.3.2.1 Infrastructure 37 5.3.2.2 Safety 39

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5.3.3 Road – Cycling Behavior 40 5.3.3.1 Use of helmet 40 5.3.3.2 Attention on traffic signals 41 5.3.3.3 Attention at pedestrian crossings 42 5.3.3.4 Alcohol consumption 43 5.3.4 Reasons and Purposes for cycling 44 5.3.4.1 Reasons for cycling 44 5.3.4.2 Purposes of bicycle trips 46 6. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: PREFERRED TRANSPORT MODE 47 6.1 Background & Aim of the analysis 47 6.2 Data 47 6.2.1 Explanatory variable 48 6.3 Theoretical model 49 6.3.1 Discrete choice models 49 6.3.2 The random utility models 50 6.3.3 The Logit model 50 6.3.4 Advantages and limitations of Logit model 52 6.3.5 The Independence from irrelefant alternatives 53 6.4 Descriptive statistics 53 Comparative charts 54 6.5 Estimation & results 56 6.5.1 Estimated model of preferred transport mode 57 6.5.2 Hypothesis testing 58 Theoretical Background 58 Present Situation 59 6.5.3 Goodness of fit 59 6.5.4 Specification test 60 Theoretical Background 60 Present Situation 60 6.5.5 Marginal Effects 61 Theoretical Background 61 Present Situation 62 6.6 Discussion & Policy Implications 64 7. CYCLING IN PATRAS 66 7.1 Aim of the study 66 7.2 Introduction to Patras 66 7.2.1 Existing traffic & cycling conditions in Patras 66 7.2.1.1 Overview 66 7.2.1.2 Traffic problems & Cycling conditions 69 7.2.1.3 Previous projects 71 7.3 Citizens’ Opinion 72 7.3.1 Aim of the survey 72 7.3.2 Method & Data 72 7.3.3 Results 73

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7.4 Proposals for the development of cycling in Patras 74 7.4.1 Introduction 74 7.4.2 A plan for the improvement of cycling conditions 75 7.4.3 Construction method and regulations 78 7.4.4 Other proposals 79 8. CONCLUSIONS 80 9. REFERENCES 82 APPENDICES 85

1. Questionnaire about the use of bicycle by the students of DTU 85 2. Questionnaire of Bicycle Account 2006 87 3. Questionnaire about the use of bicycle in Patras 101

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1. INTRODUCTION Nowadays, it is commonly acceptable the opinion that the transport habits of the

citizens of urban areas must change. The extended use of private motor vehicles has caused social problems, such as congestions and environmental pollution, and personal problems, such as lack of exercise and several diseases related to the air pollution. The solution is the development of other modes of transport, which may are less convenient, but they offer several advantages. These modes are commonly known as vulnerable or alternative and the most representative of them is the BICYCLE.

Bicycling provides several special advantages. Some of them are the exercise

during the trip and the non production of polluters, but also it can be competent, in terms of speed, convenience and safety, to the motor vehicles, at least for short urban trips. For this reason, the city planners, worldwide, propose continuously several methods for the development of cycling in the urban environment (McClintock 2002, Tolley 2003, Buehler 2008).

This study aims to constitute a step for the improvement of cycling conditions in

Copenhagen and in Patras. Among others, some ideas inspired by Copenhagen will be the incentives for the proposals refered to Patras. However, the two cities have very different characteristics, thus our approach and confrontation will be different.

On the one hand, Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle friendly cities around

Europe, with remarkable level of infrastructure and citizens with age-long bicycle culture. Moreover, cycling is an established and embodied transport mode, that is used by numerous citizens and also it is supported by the state, financially and practically. During the first part of this study (see Chapter 3), we attempt to depict the existing cycling conditions in Copenhagen. Our attention is focused on the infrastructure facilities and the way they were added to the road network. The importance of this part is crucial, because it shows the big role of the existence of facilities, in order to establish cycling as a normal transport mode, instead of a marginal vehicle for leisure purposes, used mostly by children. Furthermore, there are exposed several measures operated in Copenhagen that aim to improve the cycling conditions and the feeling of safety of the cyclists, as well as an extended description of the methods used to educate the younger (and not only) cyclists. The conclusion of this part introduces some additional proposals for further improvement of the existing situation.

Of course, this is not the first project that handles with this topic. Among years

several studies have been published in the same or similar directions of evaluating the cycling facilities, or promoting cycling (see Chapter 4). In this project, and during this specific part, we are based on personal observations, guided by previous projects and the followed policies. The proposals are based on the guidelines of ADONIS.

Apparently, this part can be informative for cities without developed cycling

environment, as a catalogue of ideas and measures, as well as for the city of Copenhagen, thus it includes new implications. However, it does not comprise a specific business plan for the principal implementation of bicycle in a traffic network.

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Additionally, we attempt to figure out the cycling habits and behavior of the

Copenhagen’s citizens. This attempt is based on two completely different statistical analyses. In the first one (see Chapter 5), we use a completely prototype sample. The participants are university students at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). They were asked to fill a questionnaire (see Appendix 1), handed out by the author, concerning their transport and cycling habits, as well as their cycling behavior. Except the obvious purpose of observing problems that affect negatively the cyclists and other road users, there is a special focus on the differences between the cycling habits and conditions between Copenhagen and the hometowns of the participants. Due to the sampling method that was used, the observations can only be utilized for descriptive statistics and any further analysis can be inaccurate and inefficient. However, the available results are exciting, mostly during the comparison between Danes and international students, where sometimes we observe serious differences.

The second analysis (Chapter 6) is based on a different sample. At this time, the

participants are the citizens that replied in the “Bicycle Account 2006”. Given their replies, we correlate several sociodemographic characteristics with their preferred mode of transport (bicycle, car or public transport). Similar surveys have been run during the past years (e.g. Hansen et al, 2001 & Vuk et al, 2006). The aim of disaggregate analysis, like this one, is to determine specific population groups that are more likely to prefer bicycle. Among others, this determination can provide useful information about the appropriate groups that a promotional effort should be focused on, as well as which are the most likely to appreciate positively some special incentives. For the operation of this analysis, we use the theory of Discrete Choice Models and specifically a Multinomial Logit Model with the three already mentioned choices. The assumptions under which the Logit Model is used, provide simplification to the calculations but they limit us from generalize easily our results. Thus, the results and the proposals can be used in other situations, but with great reservation and attention.

On the other hand, after the parts related to Copenhagen, we discuss about

Patras in Greece. Patras is a much smaller city, not a capital and less bicycle friendly. Eventually, bicycle is not concepted at all as a part of the traffic network. Its use is very limited and there is complete absence of infrastructure. However, during the last years, there is an increasing effort to implement bicycle in the road network of Patras and other middle-sized Greek cities (Vlastos et al 2000, 2005). This project is orientated in the same direction.

In the part that is related to Patras (see chapter 7), after a brief presentation of

the traffic and cycling conditions in the city, we focus on the opportunities of promoting and establishing the bicycle in the society of Patras. Firstly, we try to reveal the opinion of citizens that are already frequent cyclists, even though the environment is not friendly. This effort is based on a survey, with participants being members of a cyclists’ association operating in Patras. The participants were asked to reply another questionnaire (see Appendix 3) concerning their traveling habits and their experiences while cycling in Patras. The sample selection method and the sample size limit the potential analyses to qualitative scale. However, the results of this survey provide useful information to the part of proposals that follows.

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The proposals are divided in two parts. On the first part, we introduce a plan for a

cycling facility that connects the city center with the university area. This facility is based on standing rules and it constitutes an additional plan to other already proposed, but not yet constructed (Vlastos et al, 2005 & Gogola et al, 2008). The plan includes the exact route and some additional regulation that can be implemented after the construction of the facility. On the second part, we add some promotional measures that aim to improve the traffic and cycling education of the citizens. Both, the plan and the other measures have learnt by the existing situation in Copenhagen, which is described before (Chapters 3, 4, 5). Again, this part does not constitute a complete plan for the implementation of cycling, seeing that it does not take into account the financial part and the effects on the rest of the traffic.

Concluding, we expect that the present study can become a useful basis for the

development of new plans, able to improve the cycling conditions, both in Copenhagen and Patras. Also, knowing that city planning is highly dependent on the policy of each time authorities, we believe that it can constitute an additional incentive for the confrontation of bicycle, as a normal and competent alternative urban transport mode.

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2. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CYCLING IN COPENHAGEN Bicycle’s history begins in the early 1800’s in the Central Europe, however the

bicycle as we know it nowadays invented around 1860. Just a few years later it appeared in Copenhagen and in the rest of Denmark. (Ministry of transport, 1993)

Back in those years, cycling was not considered as something cool. As many

other innovations it was confronted by the majority of the society with suspiciousness. It was supposed to be annoying and because of that cyclists were spit on and heckled. In fact, the circumstances were even worse for the cyclists and in some places until the end of the century the use of bicycle was illegal.

Since then, however, the situation has radically changed. Between the 1890 and

1910 is noted a huge increase of the number of bicycles that circulate in Copenhagen (Figure 2-1). The mass production that started in the early 20th century made the bicycle cheaper and, given its low requirements in maintenance cost, it became more and more popular. The foundation of the Danish Cyclist Federation in 1905 came as result of this new “reality” and its target was to provide the rights and improve the conditions for the cyclists. Around 1910, the first separate bicycle paths established in Copenhagen replacing the existed bridle paths in order to serve the large portion of citizens that had started lately to use the bicycle as their main mean of transport.

Even the establishment of tram around 1920 was not able to affect the

increasing tendency of bicycle usage. Bicycles and tram “cooperated” greatly and dominated the scene of transports for the next two decades. Also, bicycle became more and more popular both for trips with leisure purposes and for holidays.

FIGURE 2-1: Numbers of bicycles in Copenhagen during the 20th century

350

240

115

330

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1890 1900 1910 1920 1930

(x10

00)

Time

Number of Bicycles

*(Ministry of Transport, 1993 )

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Bicycle reached the peak of it’s popularity during World War II. Namely,

during the 1940s the lack of fuel available for civil transportation, in addition to the tough financial condition of the citizens rendered bicycle as the most popular mode of urban transport. This situation stood until the mid-1950s. At this point the use of car started becoming more and more massive.

The large use of motor vehicles, and mostly cars, that revealed during the

mid-1950s constituted an inhibitory factor in the development of the bicycle friendly behavior of the citizens, not only of Copenhagen, but almost of any multitudinous European city.

The appearance of a new, modern, faster, and more comfortable mode of

transport was reasonable to attract the interest of a large proportion of the previous bicycle users. However, before long, people started realize also the disadvantages of the car, and no longer than 1970 turned again to the bicycle.

It is highly remarkable that, even during these two decades of decline, almost

30% of the Danes continued using their bicycles in a regular basis, maybe more rarely than before, but in any case the conclusion is that bicycle never disappeared by the everyday traffic life of Denmark ( www.copenhagenize.com )

PICTURE 2-2: Cyclists in Copenhagen, at 1970’s

*(Krag, 2002)

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Since 1970s bicycle use in Denmark, has gone from strength to strength.

Namely about Copenhagen, Figure 2-3 makes obvious an increase of about 50% precent in the number of cyclists per day during the last 3 decades of the previous century.

FIGURE 2-3: Bicycle traffic development, 1970 - present

1970 1980 1990 2000 Year

*(Center for Trafik, 2008)

Several reasons provoked this increase. First of all, the last fourty years people

have started been aware of the climate changes and the environment’s protection, that is the reason why they search for activities more friendly towards nature. This tendency led many people to replace the car by bicycle in many urban trips. Also, cycling has always been cheaper even than the public transport for people on low incomes.

As well as, the Denmark’s attachment to cyclism was always forced by several

individualities of the Danish society. Thomas Krag, transport consultant who used to head the Danish Cyclists’ Federation, said that “people here are Calvinists, they are a little practical and they have respect for the weak participants of the society”. Maybe this is a possible explanation about the unique demonstrations of approximately 30000 people during the 1970s, demanding the construction of more cycle lanes (Ministry of Transport, 1993).

Inner City Ring

City Border

Cyclists per Day 200.000 150.000 100.000 50.000

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Moreover, the energy crisis of 1970s was another reason that guided in the same way. Until some years ago, this problem was supposed to be overcome, but also during the latest years is common truth that is more “up to date” than ever. The continuous increase in prices of petrol are pointing and will continue to point people to more vulnerable transportation modes, of which bicycle is the most competitve against car and motorcycle, in terms of speed and safety.

Since 1980s the use of bicycle expanded also in professional activities such as

postmen, couriers or even health visitors and newspapers’s sellers. Major role in this development performed the improvement in bicycle conditions and the expansion of the bicycle infrastructure in the greater Copenhagen area during last years. Copenhagen has now on, one of the more extended bicycle networks that serve approximately 30% of the commuters of the city everyday (City of Copenhagen, 2006)

An important role in this development performed also the state of Denmark and

the Municipality of Copenhagen that during last 25 years have added bicycle routes and cyclists in the city traffic planning. Many projects have worked out during that period refering to the improvement of cyclists’ conditions, which of course means that respectable budgets are disposed in that direction (City of Copenhagen 2002 & 2006, ADONIS – see 4.4).

Concluding, the history of bicycle in Copenhagen among years has proved that,

even if some periods presents a decline, it always remains a main transport mode for the citizens, and given the encouragement of the state to this direction is growing and will continue growing the following years.

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3. EXISTENT CYCLING SITUATION IN COPENHAGEN The aim of this part is to depict the existing cycling conditions in Copenhagen

with two major targets. Firstly, the use of this description as an example for other cities without so extended cycling facilities. In later section (Chapter 7), we will specify these examples in a case study referred to the city of Patras, in Greece. Secondly, this description will provide us sufficient information about the problem of the cycling network in Copenhagen, thus we will be able to propose some measures able to improve the existing conditions and make cycling even more attractive and safe for the citizens of Copenhagen. These proposals will be based on the project ADONIS (Nilson et al, 1998).

It is already proved that cycling is healthy, environmentally friendly, and fast for

short distances and many more. This is the obvious reason why the global tendency is to make people cycle more and drive less. It is a great challenge to succeed this transormation at people habits.

In reality, it would have been extremely optimistic and unrealistic to believe that

bicycle can replace the other modes of transport completely; in fact this would not be reasonable as far as for long distances the motor vehicles have obvious advantages. But short trips, mostly in urban areas; do not require the use of them and this must be the “trip target” of bicycle.

Nevertheless, the citizens in order to be persuaded to leave their cars and start

using vulnerable modes of transport they ask for several prerequisites. If we try to resume them in a few words, those would be safety, comfort and habit.

In particular, Copenhagen represents a prominent example of a big city that

provides these requirements in its inhabitants. This is not an accidental result, but a subsequence of a serious effort that takes place for several years and of some other cultural factors.

3.1 Infrastructure The main step for the incorporation of cyclism in the traffic network is to stop

being considered as a marginal transport mode. It should be mentioned as an alternative and competitive mode choice, with its advantages and disadvantages. The most crucial enforcement of this opinion comes from the existence of infrastructure. The availability of appropriate facilities lead the citizens to count (in the beginning subconciously and afterwards wittingly) the bicycle as an additional opportunity to satisfy their transport needs. Another important factor is the framework of measures that will support, secure and differentiate the bicycle, but this will be discussed later (see 3.4).

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FIGURE 3-1: Bicycle traffic flows per day, in Copenhagen

*(City of Copenhagen, 2006)

3.1.1 Cycle Tracks, Cycle Lanes & Green Cycle Routes The bicycle should be treated as a different vehicle and given this the cyclists

should move onto routes separated from those of the cars. An independent cycling network can assure safety and convenience to the cyclist, as it forces the car driver to respect the cyclists and count them as equal road users.

Copenhagen has one of the most extended and well-used network of bicycle

paths, worldwide. Based on the Bicycle Account (City of Copenhagen, 2006 – see also 4.1), the total length of the cycle paths was 388kilometers, consisted of 332km of cycle tracks, 17km of cycle lanes and 39km of green cycle routes. The Cycle Policy (City of Copenhagen, 2002 – see also 4.2), is predicting a continuous improvement in the cycling facilities among the years.

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The cycle tracks are paths that are used entirely by bicycles and they are separated by the road, which is used by the cars. The separation is either vertical or horizontal. Which means that either they are located exactly next to the road but they are in a different level (usually in the same level as the pavement), or they are in the same level as the road, but a natural or artificial barrier exists between them. The cycle tracks provide security to the cyclists, because it is cuts the contact between the bicycles and the cars. The Pictures 3-3 to 3-5 depict clearly what is mentioned above. In Picture 3-2, we see that the bike path is in different level than the road and also it is separated by a line of parked cars and bicycles. In Picture 3-3, there is no obvious hypsometric difference, but the tuft of bushes that lies between the two lanes operates as a natural barrier for the cyclists. The hypsometric difference is also visible in the Picture 3-4.

PICTURE 3-2: Bicycle track in Copenhagen, in different level than the road

*(http://www.bikearlington.com)

PICTURE 3-3: Bicycle track separated with natural barrier

*(http://www.bikegallery.com)

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PICTURE 3-4: Bicycle track in hypsometric level, higher than the road

*(http://www.livinglightly.ca)

This separation is the main difference between the bicycle tracks and the bicycle

lanes. The bicycle lanes are sections of the road, where only the alignment and some signals show that these parts belong to the cyclists (Picture 3-5). The main disadvantage of the bicycle lanes, is that the white line that splits the car from the bicycle is more an advice, than a prohibition. There is no real border to block the car from stepping on the bicycle lane. Moreover, the two vehicles are so close that a wrong movement of one, affects directly the other.

PICTURE 3-5: Example of bicycle lane in Copenhagen

*(http://gallery.hd.org)

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Usually, the bicycle paths are constructed in both ways of the road and they are

used each one for the corresponding direction (like the cars). The appropriate width of a bicycle path is around 2 meters, but the real width varies according to the traffic needs, but mostly according to the available space. In any case, the bike path cannot be narrower than 1 meter, because the bicycle is an instable vehicle, thus, sometimes the driver should move appropriately in order to keep his balance. If the bicycle path is constructed to serve two-way traffic, then it should be wide enough to give the opportunity to the intersected cyclists to avoid one another safely and conveniently. As we notice in Picture 3-6, both cyclists have enough space to avoid the opposite coming bicycle without risk. Hereby, we should mention that many times there is no sign that forbids one of the directions. Nevertheless, in most of the bicycle tracks that are used frequently in both directions there are specific horizontal signals that drag the attention of the cyclist and advize him about the possible intersection.

PICTURE 3-6: Cycle track that serves two-way bicycle traffic

*(http://hembrow.eu)

Furthermore, a relatively new idea is the network of green bicycle routes. This network constitutes by bicycle paths totally independent from the road network. The individuality of these routes consists in the isolation they provide. They are routes built in high standards and they run across a green environment, without intersecting with traffic. The main target groups are commuters that live far from their jobs, so they need to travel faster than through the normal traffic, and recreation users. Until 2007, there had been constructed around 40km and based to the Cycle Policy (City of Copenhagen, 2002), they will exceed 100km before 2015. However, based on the replies of Bicycle Account (City of Copenhagen, 2006), only half of the citizens already know about these green routes.

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PICTURE 3.7: Green Cycle Route

*(http://www.urbantransport-technology.com)

3.1.2 National bicycle paths network Except of the bicycle network of Copenhagen, Denmark has also an extended

network of routes throughout the country, that consists of long distance national routes, regional and local cycle routes that they are clearly marked (Pictures 3-8). Most of the national paths run along the national roads, they are well maintained and nice to ride on. Due to this network, a new kind of tourism has been developed in Denmark, as many people like the cycling vacations (cycling around the country and staying in random places). Along the national roads there are specific signs that inform the cyclist about the distance until the next destination and the path on which he is traveling.

PICTURES 3-8: Traffic signs of the national bicycle paths network

*(http://www.trafikken.dk)

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3.1.3 Bicycle Traffic Signs Traffic signs are established also in the urban bicycle paths. There are several

signs, most of them are informative about the beginning, the end, or the existence of a bicycle path. The most common is the horizontal drawing of the cyclist that means that this lane is for bicycles.

PICTURE 3-9: Horizontal sign stating that this lane is referred to cyclists

*(http://i.treehugger.com)

Really common are also signs that inform about the parking places for bicycles,

like the one that it follows. Also, other signals that indicate prohibition of bicycles, or exclusive usage by vulnerable users are common in specific situations. The individual traffic lights will be noticed further in the next sections (3.4.1 – 3.4.2).

PICTURE 3-10: Bicycle Parking Signs

*(http://comps.fotosearch.com)

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3.1.4 Bicycle Parking The demand for parking places for bicycles is not something new. The demand

for so huge numbers of parking places is something really new. The main problems that lead to this result are the continuously increased number of bicycle that circulated, the increase in the number of kilometers that are driven every year (both these are showing an increasing tendency towards the use of bicycle) and the high levels of bicycle stealing. About the last factor, it is interesting to mention that around 20% of the participants in the Bicycle Account (City of Copenhagen 2006), replied that they had a bike stolen between the last 2 years and this should concern us.

Scenes like the following photo are really common in central places, like stations,

squares etc. In addition to this, smaller parking places are established everywhere around the city. The opportunities to get the bicycle inside the public transport modes lead people use their bicycle in the vast majority of their activities. We can find parking places next to every public service, storecenter, school and university. In the center of the city there are also several parking places, at random points, to serve the people that reached the center by bicycle, but then they prefer to walk.

The main problem of most of the parking places is that they are totally

unguarded, either by natural phenomena, or by the thieves. For this reason it has started rising the idea of big covered parking places, where the bicycles will be locked in specific boxes. The covered parking place would protect by the rain and the snow, and the box from the thiefs. The budget and the maintenance costs will be discussed later and only briefly because they are not the main part of this project.

Another problem, related to the parking availability, consists of the innumerous

abandoned bicycles that cut off parking seats from the cyclists. The huge number of old bicycles that travel around Denmark is one of the main reasons for this situation. At times, the Municipality organises clearances of the parking sites, nevertheless the problem still exists.

PICTURE 3-11: Bicycle parking at Norreport station

*(http://img5.travelblog.org)

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3.1.5 Connection with the public transport Another serious achievement that encourages the citizens to use their bicycles is

the opportunity that they have any more to bring their bicycles inside the train and the Metro. This measure allows the people to use the bicycle in a larger variety of activities. The cost for getting the bicycle inside the train is almost equal to the ticket for the passenger, when we are refered to short distances and this aims to discourage the citizens using the public transport for distnaces they can walk or cycle. However, for longer distances the price of the ticket for the bicycle remains stable, so the decision to use bicycle and public transport is acceptable enough. We should mention that the train and the metro have appropriately modified wagons, which are able to host bicycles. Nowadays, the cooperation between bicycle and public transport has started becoming more common in many big cities worldwide (Athens, 2008).

3.1.6 Maintenance The maintenance and the development of a so big network require funds and

systematic utilization of these funds. It is evaluated that around DKK 160 million are invested every year for the improvement of the cycling infrastructure. This implies the construction of new cycling facilities and the maintenance of the already existing, which means the every day expenditures for sweeping, cleaning, snow-clearing etc. and the occasional expenditures for renewal or improvement of older facilities. This budget, if used correctly, can meet the demands during the years, so that the existing infrastructure remains in acceptable level and also new parts are added.

3.2 Education The existence of infrastructure cannot assure the correct road behavior, unless if

it is followed by appropriate education and culture of the road users. This opinion does not affect only the car drivers, but also the vulnerable road users, such as the cyclists and the pedestrians. Every road user should follow the rules that govern each environment and respect the rights of every other group of users. Moreover, traffic education makes cycling safer and more convenient.

3.2.1 Guidelines of education The education of cyclists is a general concept that would be totally meaningless if

we would not focus on some specific aspects. Cyclists should be trained to act correctly, but which is the explanation of correctness in traffic behavior?

First of all, the cyclists should train some necessary cycling skills, like balance

and control of the bicycle, as well as knowledge of signals to communicate with other road users. Also, they should be trained to behave responsibly, which means to get used to wear helmet, not to cycle under the influence of alcohol (see also 5.3.3.4) and to maintain their bicycle appropriately (use of lights etc.).

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Furthermore, they should learn and respect the traffic rules that are refered to every road user, or especially to cyclists. This includes the traffic signals, the use of the correct traffic lines and the rules of priority in junctions.

Finally, they should learn that safety is the major priority in transportation and it

should be the basic concern of their behavior. This implies high ability of reaction to external inconveniences, predictable riding and wearing visible clothing. Even more it can refer to safer turnings, less risky movements and planning of trips through the safest possible route.

3.2.2 Traffic education plan The notification of these guidelines would be useless if there was no special

education plan to promote them. Below we will expose the methods that are used in Denmark and aim to educate appropriately the young cyclists.

As the character and the habits can be shaped more easily during our early

years, the best target to focus the education plan is the children. This is the reason that the Danish Road Safety Council created the “Children’s Traffic Club”. Members of this club are approximately half of the children between the ages of 3 and 6. The club provides material that promotes the vulnerable transport modes to the children. The material is adjusted to the young age of the audience, so it mixes training and rules with games and other entertaining activities.

Afterwards, when the children grow up they are trained more practically, in order

to learn how to cycle and behave properly in traffic. Between 8 and 13 years they should complete a specific amount of training hours, which are followed by tests that aim to check the cycling abilities of the children, as well as the knowledge of traffic regulations. Responsibles for these tests are the schools and the police.

PICTURE 3-12: Students’ test of cycling ability

*(Road Directorate, 2000)

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3.2.3 Lifelong Education Nevertheless, education is required not only during childhood. Specific aspects of

road behavior and safety are not refered to children, or not only to them. Two of the most crucial factors that affect road safety, are the alcohol consumption and the use of helmet.

One of the main disadvantages of bicycle, as a vehicle, is that it does not provide

any passive safety to the user. If you are involved in an accident as a cyclist, whether it is your fault or not, it is highly possible to get injured. Thus, the use of helmet is extremely crucial because it protects at least the most sensitive part of the body, the head. Unfortunately, helmet is supposed to be uncomfortable, not “cool”, or (even more mistakenly) useless for the rider and so the majority of the cyclists does not use it. Although, a big paradox arises at this point. Most of the adults do not like to use a helmet, but they force their children to do so. This means that they recognize the necessity of helmet’s usage, but they feel able to protect themselves without it, in contrary to their kids.

Throughout the years, several campaigns have been launched in order to

promote the use of helmets. The campaigns refered to adults keen to show the correlation between the use of helmet and the probability of avoiding a serious injury after a bike accident, so that the cyclists will be convinced that this inconvenience is necessary. As far as it concern children they try to promote helmet as a cool extra bicycle accessory.

Even though the number of cyclists that use their helmet is not yet acceptable,

there is a slight increase compared to previous years. This increase shows a slow change of behavior and philosophy that can be grown up in the following years under adequate confrontation.

Last but not least, we should notice that a serious part is the education of the

other road users, mostly car drivers and motorcyclists. They are trained to respect the cyclists and be able to react in order to avoid hitting them, because we should never forget how unprotected is the cyclist in case of an accident. However, the bad behavior of the other road users still remains one of the most bothering factors for the cyclists, as they feel that mostly the car drivers, do not respect the bicycle paths and the particularities of bicycle, as a transport mode.

3.3 Safety Another serious aspect that should be mentioned separately is the road safety.

This term has a double meaning. On the first hand, the perceived sense of safety of the citizens while they cycle and on the second hand, the objective depiction of safety that is presented by the cyclist risk (serious injuries per million kilometers cycled) and the analysis of several accident factors.

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On the first part, we will focus on the opinion of the citizens. One of the main discouraging factors for the use of bicycle is the sense of unsafety. People should be persuaded that they are safe to use their bicycles. Based on the data of Bicycle Account (City of Copenhagen, 2006), we observe that around 50-60% of the citizens feel safe during cycling. The percentages show a slight variation among years but they are always around the same level.

However, the important part is to recognise the reasons why some of the citizens

feel unsafe. Among the frequent cyclists the major problems are the cars and the other bicycles. Specifically, those that answered thoroughly pointed that many times the bicycle paths are trespassed by cars or trucks. About the other cyclists, they notice as main problem that the bicycle paths are not wide enough to serve the high traffic load, mostly during the rush hours. Thus, most of them support that they would cycle more in case that more bicycle paths existed, or the already existed were wider. These results agree with the opinion that is expressed in the general questions about the amount and the width of the cycle lanes, where again between 50-60% seem to be satisfied.

Although, an interesting contradiction rises in the discussion about the

maintenance of the roads and the cycle paths. As we have already mentioned (see 3.1), only half of the people feel satisfied with the maintenance of the bicycle lanes and only 1/3 with the maintenance of the roads. Even though, only a few people support that the condition of the facilities provides them fear and feeling of insecurity.

On the second hand, we will analyze the objective factors that explain the

security that is provided to the users. Again, based on the Bicycle Account data, we observe that during last 10 years, a big increase of approximately 45% in the kilometers cycled per day (800.000 km/d in 1995 – 1.150.000 km/d in 2006) was followed by a huge decrease in the number of serious injuries. Given that fact, we can note a significant decrease in the cyclists’ risk during the last decade. Numerically, expressed in serious casualties per million kilometers cycled, we calculate a decrease from 0.79 in 1995 to 0.22 in 2006. This means that the citizens even if they do not feel safer during cycling, they are.

3.4 Measures that improved the cycling conditions As it already mentioned, the institution of rules and measures that secure the

bicycle as part of the urban transport network is crucial. It provides to the cyclists equal rights and opportunities with any other road user and at the same times it pays attention to the individual characteristics of bicycle and its users.

At this section we will briefly consume some special measures that are used in

Copenhagen (as well as in some other cities and countries) and they improve the cycling conditions. These measures include modification of the infrastructure and some traffic regulations.

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3.4.1 Traffic Lights 1: Separate periods for the bicycles During the section refered to the infrastructure (3.1) we mentioned the existence

of separate traffic signals for the service of the bicycles, including direction, priority, attention or information signals. However, in a city where approximately 30% of the commuters are travelling by bicycle (City of Copenhagen, 2006), it is expected that the traffic load in some bicycle tracks will be significantly important, mostly in the center of the city. This means that there will be continuous flow of bicycles through some junctions, at least during the rush hours. This observation turned necessary the operation of separate traffic light periods, refered only to the bicycles. For a city with so extended bicycle network it was an obvious measure, but we mention it because it underlines the status of bicycle, as a transport mode, in Copenhagen.

PICTURE 3-13: Special traffic lights for cyclists

*(http://allworldcars.com)

3.4.2 Traffic Lights 2: Scheduling according to the average speed of bicycle

One the one hand the establishment of separated periods of traffic lights was a

simple method to decrease the interaction between cars and bicycles. On the other hand the schedule and synchronizations of the traffic lights according to the speed of bicycles is a premium innovation. This plan aims to optimize the route of the cyclists by scheduling the traffic lights in a way that, a cyclist with an expected average speed will minimize his waiting time in the lighted junctions.

There are several advantages outcoming of this plan. First of all, it constitutes an

indirect way to suceed traffic calming in the center of the city, because the reduction of waiting time for the bicycles is added to the cars, so they are obligated to slow down more often and for longer periods. Traffic calming will be explained furtherly in a following part.

Moreover, the bicycle is becoming more competent, because it is almost

eliminated one of its main disadvantages against the motor vehicles, the speed. Finally, it is more convenient and helpful for the cyclists, because we should not forget that they are giving physical effort during cycling and the frequent changes of speed are very tiring for him.

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3.4.3 Traffic calming As it is already mentioned, the traffic calming is a measure that encourages the

vulnerable transport modes, by making more difficult the use of private cars. There are several methods to apply the traffic calming and the most common is the reduction of the speed limit, followed by narrowing of the roadway and limitations in parking. In some more extended situations, the use of car is totally restricted and the road is turned to a pedestrian and cyclists zone.

In Copenhagen, there are several examples of traffic calming. In the center of the

city there is an extended network of pedestrian zones, where cars are totally forbidden, most of the times. In the Pictures 3-14 & 3-15, we can see one of the main pedestrian roads of the city and the extended pedestrian network, that covers big part of the city center.

PICTURE 3-14: Major pedestrian road of Copenhagen

*(http://www.livablestreets.com)

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PICTURE 3-15: The network of pedestrian roads of Copenhagen

*(http://www.except.nl) Furthermore, in several neighbourhoods around the city there are narrowed

roads with signals that warn the drivers that they enter a traffic calmed area and that they should reduce speed. Usually, these areas are located close to schools or recreation areas where it is more likely that children exist.

Traffic calming shows several benefits except of the encouraging of cyclism.

First, it succeeds the reduction of collisions between pedestrians and cars, which is even more critical in places with many children. Second, it reduces the levels of air end noise pollution in these regions and it leads to the generation of a more calm, safe and less stressfull social environment.

PICTURE 3-16: Another method of traffic calming

*(http://www.pps.org)

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3.4.4 JUNCTIONS The junctions constitute the most dangerous parts of the road network. Vehicles

with several different directions meet each other and the possibility of a collision is really high. The junctions are even more dangerous for the cyclists because of their small size. The bicycle cannot be noticed easily by a driver, unless he is driving very carefully. Sometimes, due to physical reasons it is almost unable to discriminate the existence of a cyclist in a junction constructed inappropriately. This is the reason why most of the road safety measures focus on the operation of the junctions and the minimization of the intersected movements. Below, we will indicate some of the measures used in Copenhagen, for the improvement of safety in the junctions.

3.4.4.1 Blue Lanes

PICTURE 3-17: Blue lanes in Copenhagen

*(http://www.streetsblog.org)

In several intersections around Copenhagen, the bicycle lanes are painted blue.

The purpose of the measure is that the routes of the bicycles are clearly identified and they cause the attention of the car driver. It is a method to remind to the driver that the cyclists have the right of way at this part of the intersection. The importance of the blue lanes is even bigger in cases of turns of the bicycle routes, because if they did not exist, then the appearance of a turning bicycle would be a surprise for the driver, which could cause an inappropriate and dangerous reaction.

3.4.4.2 Recessed stop lines A major reason for serious accidents was the right turning motor vehicles, usually

lorries, that did not realize that a cyclist was moving straight. The explanations could be, lack of attention from both sizes, inappropriate visibility or many other. The solution to this problem was the establishment of the stoplines for the bicycles, in front of the stoplines of the cars. Given this fact, it is impossible for the driver not to see the cyclist and also it aims the cyclist to travel faster.

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3.4.4.3 Short Cuts In many intersections, in order to avoid the interaction between cyclists and other

users, the route of the bicycle lane is drawn away of the road. Due to this, the cyclist interacts only with the vehicles that move in the transverse direction. Many times the cyclists use the same zebra crossings as the pedestrians.

3.5 Proposals for further improvement of the cycling conditiions

The serious confrontation of cycling in Copenhagen, has created a sufficient network and favorable conditions for cycling to the citizens. However, there are available proposals to improve furtherly the situation and promote cycling. At this section we expose some measures, inspired by the project ADONIS (Nilson et al, 1998) and referred to cities with high density of facilities for cycling and with large percentage of urban trips covered by vulnerable transport modes. The implications are focused on three axes: The reduction of delays for the cyclists, the improvement of parking facilities and the improvement of connection with the public transport.

First of all, concerning the reduction of waiting time, we have already observed

several measures that provide advantages to the cyclists compared to the other road users (see 3.4). Additionally, we could provide higher convenience to the cyclicts in case we implement “All-directions-green” for cyclists on signalized junctions. Another measure can be the allowance of right turns for cyclists when the traffic light for going straight is red. These measures would reduce significantly the waiting time of the cyclists, but it would cause more frequent interaction with other road users, as well as longer waiting time for the car drivers. These negative effects can be overcome with appropriate informative signalizing and it could promote the opinion that bicycle can be competent to the car and convenient.

Moreover, in a city with so many bicycles a serious problem is the storage,

mostly in crowded places and in stations of public transport modes. Thus, it is compulsory the construction of modern storage facilities, at least in some specific places. The parking places must provide protection from natural phenomena, safety from theft and must easily accessible. A useful example would be the construction of a covered and guarded storage facility next to the station of Norreport, in Copenhagen, with high capability, as it is one of the most crowded stations of the city. The cost for the maintenance of the facility and the employment of the guards will be worthy taking into account the reduction of thefts and the provided convenience to the cyclists.

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Finally, it would be useful the extension of the connection of bicycle with the public transport. Nowadays, the cyclists are able to take their bicycle in the train and the metro (3.1.5). However, the capability of the trains is not sufficient, mostly during the rush hours. A further development of the train facilities would be useful. Furthermore, under certain circumstances, it is able the connection with the busses. This is more difficult to be materialized, due to the problems of space in the bus; however some specific bus lines would be able to carry bicycles. A simple idea would be the implementations of some special busses, similar to those that are used in the airports, without seats, but with cases for the sustainment of the bicycles. The busses must be specially signalized in order to be recognized easily.

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4. SPECIAL PROJECTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF CYCLING Bicycle is a part of the tradition of Denmark. People had been supporting it

faithfully even during periods that the circumstances were not favorable. On the contrary, last 25 years the conditions are improving more and more. One of the major factors that lead to this improvement is the support provided by the state and by several other authorities. A prominent number of projects have ran during this period, orientated in the development of cycling conditions, as well as the operation of the already existing infrastructure and the level of satisfaction of the citizens towards it.

4.1 Bicycle Account “Bicycle Account” is been edited since 1995 almost every 2 years, by the Center

for Traffic of Copenhagen Municipality. This project has two main goals. On the first hand, it constitutes a distinct and accessible guide for the citizens that are interested in Copenhagen’s cyclism status. On the other hand, it provides to the authorities regular and reliable measurements about the level of bicycle infrastructure, as well as the level of satisfaction of the roas users and the variation of bicycle use among years.

Measurements about the total length of the bicycle routes, or the cost of cycle

tracks maintenance, as well as the number of seriously injured or killed cyclists are just some of the data that give an idea about the development of Cycle Policy in Copenhagen. They portray the level of infrastructure and maintenance and in addition to some figures about the increase of people that cycle to work and the sense of safety they have while cycling, they prove the positive affection of the state’s support in the development of cyclism.

Another aim of this effort is to count the level of satisfaction of the cyclists. The

investigation is based on approximately 1000 telephone interviews and the interviewers are requested to rate facilities, such as sense of safety, cycle track maintenace, cycle parking, etc. in a scale from 1 to 10. In order to succeed that they invented the point system of the “10 little cyclists”, which is a distinct way to depict how satisfied are the cyclists. Whole campaigns are launched in order to gain one more “little cyclist” in the chart after a couple of years.

Finally, every “Bicycle Account” concludes in several propositions about the

actions must be done to improve even more the cycle conditions Copenhagen, by making the use of bicycle more attractive and competitive comparing to other modes of transport.

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4.2 Cycle Policy “Cycle Policy 2002-2012” (City of Copenhagen, 2002) is a guide, edited by the

Municipality of Copenhagen in 2002 to promote cyclism as an attractive and effective way of transport. The survey is divided into two major axes. The first one describes the current “cycling situation” in Copenhagen, by taking in mind several factors as the number of commuters, the sense of safety etc. and moreover mentions the goals that should be achieved until 2012. This contains increase in the number of commuters about 5%. Also, increase of travelling speed and sense of safety. One of the most imprortant goals of this decade is the decrease of the risk of fatal accidents by 50%.

The second major part notes the major targets of the Cycle Policy for the next

years, which will assist the achievement of the goals previously mentioned and generally, will improve the bicycle facilities in Copenhagen. There are nine focus areas that the authorities plan to take care of:

• Cycle tracks and reinforced cycle lanes • Green cycle routes • Improved cycling conditions in the city centre • Combine cycling and public transport • Bicycle parking • Improved signal intersections • Better cycle track maintenance • Better cycle track cleaning • Campaigns and information. All these targets are described analytically in “Cycle Policy” and make evident the

long-range plan of the Municipality of Copenhagen for cycling evolution.

4.3 City Bikes City Bike is an pioneer initiative of the city of Copenhagen. The Municipality

provides bicycles to citizens and tourists for just 20DKK, so anyone can borrow a bike and travel around the city centre. The aim of this effort is totally not to receive money from people, which is the reason that when the user returns the bike in any rack around city he receives his money back.

This attempt has several positive effects to the society. First of all, it encourages

people to use a more environmentally friendly mode of transport, as well as it turns bicycle more and more familiar to the inhabitants and the tourists. In that way, it enforces the characterization of Copenhagen as “City of Cyclists”.

Moreover, it provides a really cheap and flexible mode of transport to the citizens

that have lower incomes. If we take in mind also the prices of public means of transport in Copenhagen, City Bikes can decrease the cost of transportation very much, therefore can also decrease the life cost.

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4.4 ADONIS The last project that will be refered here is also the biggest, at least in budgets’

point of view. The project called ADONIS (abbreviation of “Analysis and Development Of New Insight into Subtitution of short car trips by cycling and walking”) edited in 1998 and it was funded by the European Commission. The location of the project was not only Copenhagen, but also other European cities, such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, etc. The aim of this project, as it is obvious from the title, is to encourage the car drivers in big cities, change their cars in short trips with vulnerable modes of transport, especially cycling and walking. The results of the project are described is four separate reports:

1. “Best practice to promote cycling and walking” that proposes several

measures for the promotion of walking and cycling. Those measures contain either development of facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, or regulations that have to do with transport policy, education and public information. A really exciting feature is that the measures that are recommended for each place vary depending on the percentage of urban trips and the present density of facilities for vulnerable road users. This fact makes the proposals much more practical and applicable (Nilson et al, 1998).

2. “Behavioural factors affecting modal choice” which describes the factors that

affect the modal choice in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Copenhagen. The factors included are, among others, the distance of the trip, the level of interaction between different modes of transport, the amount of parking sites etc. The purpose of this report is to note down the reasons why the citizens prefer car instead of vulnerable modes and to propose solutions about how to make use of car less attractive compared to cycling and walking. (Forward et al, 1998)

3. “A qualitative analysis of cyclist and pedestrian accident factors” which gives

new information about accident factors in urban traffic. The report is based on personal interviews with road users that have been involved in road traffic accidents. In this analysis, several types of traffic accidents between vulnerable road users and cars are described, as well as several reasons that provoked the accident are exposed. Numerous issues come up from this report, such as the impacts of the accident to the following road behaviour and sense safety of the interviwees. Concluding, the authors expose some proposals to increase safety and to encourage the change of modal choice, to vulnerable modes of transport. (Bernhoft et al, 1998)

4. “How to substitute short car trips by cycling and walking” constitutes the final

and main report of this project that gathers the results of the previous reports, such as the causes that lead to each modal choice, the essential considerations in order to improve safety for the vulnerable users and to provide them better facilities. As well as, it concludes with several propositions towards governments and transport planners. (Behrensdorff et al, 1998)

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5. A SURVEY ABOUT STUDENTS’ CYCLING HABITS

5.1 Aim of the survey This part is based on an investigation conducted at Technical University of

Denmark (DTU) and had as main purpose to investigate the cycling habits and behavior of a specific age and education group, as well as the differences between Danes and International Students of DTU in sections referred to cyclism. The behavior of this group shows high importance because the students constitute a proportion of the young people of Denmark. As a result of this survey, we will be able to propose some possible actions to improve the road behavior of young cyclists, as well as their opinion about cycling.

5.2 Survey Sampling Method & Data Collection

The main tool of this effort was a questionnaire, composed by the author (see Appendix 1). This questionnaire included several questions referred to:

• personal characteristics of the interviewees, mostly focused on the their origin

and period of studying here, • traveling habits, like what mode of transport they prefer to use for each

distance in Copenhagen and in their hometown and especially if they own a bicycle, • and finally for those who own a bicycle, various questions about the frequency

and the purpose they use it, as well as their road behavior and their opinion about cycling in the greater Copenhagen area.

One of the major factors that can determine the type of analysis we can apply to

our data is the sampling method and the way and period the data were collected. Our data were collected between 20th September and 10th October in several places around DTU. The participants were random students of the University, who were asked if they were interested to fill it during their classes or their breaks. Major reason that affected their decision was the time they should have to spend in order to complete it, but in general the response was positive. In the survey took part 459 students, of who 311 were Danes and 148 were international students. Based on this facts, it is obvious that it was collected a non-probability convenience sample.

With a non-probability sample method, we do not know the probability that each

population element will be chosen, so we cannot be sure that every population element has a non-zero probability of being chosen. The main advantages of this kind of methods are the low cost and the high convenience, and these were some of the main reasons that this kind of method was chosen.

Moreover, a non-probability sample can be voluntary or convenience. A

convenience sample consists of population elements that are easily accessible by the conductor of the project, in contrary to the voluntary sample which is made of people who self-select to participate in the survey. Based on these differences we can

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describe the present sample as convenience, because the collection of the data was based on students that were easily reached in different areas of the university.

The main disadvantage of a convenience sample is that it does not offer

protection against undercoverage bias, which means that maybe a portion of the population is not represented in the sample.

Concluding, this sampling method restricts our ability of analyzing statistically the

sample in order to export totally accurate results, but we can take several results about the tendencies and cycling habits of the students which are based more on the backround and on social characteristics of the interviewees, than on modelling and probability analyses.

5.3 Results

5.3.1 Ownership of bicycle

TABLE 5-1: Ownership of bicycle by the students of DTU

Country Ownership of Bicycle

Copenhagen Hometown

Denmark (not citizens of Copenhagen )

75,2 % 70,3%

Denmark ( citizens of Copenhagen )

78,1 % 78,1 %

All Danes

77,5 %

Northern Europe 77,8 % 74,1 %

Mediterranean & Latin American 74,5 % 54,5 %

Central & Eastern Europe + Rest of the World

81,8 % 70,8 %

All non-Danes

80,4 % 64,6 %

All Interviewees

78,4 % 68,9 %

First of all, the obvious question is whether the students cycle or not. And the answer is YES… Almost 80% of the interviewees replied that they own a bicycle here (see Table 5-1). The reasons and the purposes they explain this big percentage will be explained afterwards (5.3.4).

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The most remarkable element of the bicycle ownership is the difference that is appeared with the use of bicycle in the home cities of the interviewees. Even Danish students, for whose the change in life habits would not supposed to be so influential, they show a significant decrease of about 8% when asked if they cycle in their hometown. In general, only 67% of the interviewed students coming from other cities, own a car in the place they grew up. This change in the modal choice can be a first sign of the high level of cycling infrastructure in the greater Copenhagen area.

Furthermore, if we consider deeper the data we can see that this difference is

even bigger when referred to international students. Less than 65% of all non-Danes students own a bicycle in his home place and over 20% of these use it either never or just for really short distances. The variation is smaller as far as it concerns the Danes, but again, in general, the bicycle seems more attractive and competitive in Copenhagen than anywhere else.

Although, it would not be representative to take in mind all the foreigners as a

united portion of people, at least as far as it concerns this question. The reason is that the cycling conditions vary a lot from country to country, even from city to city ( but this is impossible to check it with this survey). But, about the countries, even if our results cannot be so significant (the sample is too small), we can take an idea noticing that people coming from northern European countries, such as the rest of Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany and Iceland have a behavior towards ownership of bicycle almost identical to Danes.

On the other hand, students coming from Mediterranean or Latin American

countries use much less the bicycle in their homecities, only around 55%. This fact can be explained by two main reasons. Firstly, the lack of infrastructure, that also provokes reduced feeling of safety for the cyclists (Table 5-2) and also a variable that was impossible to be depicted with a question and refers to the bicycle culture. Given the fact that bicycle is a traditional mode of transport for short distances in central and northern European countries, which is totally untrue for Mediterranean and Latin American countries. (The feeling of safety and the level of infrastructure will be discussed more analytically later – see 5.3.2)

Table 5-2: Perceived feeling of safety and level of infrastructure, based on the

answers of the international students

Country Copenhagen Hometown

Safety Infrastructure Safety Infrastructure

Northern Europe 8,24 8,55 6,80 5,16

Mediterranean & Latin America

8,76 9,18 4,08 2,92

Central & Eastern Europe + Rest of the

World

8,37 9,28 5,12 4,16

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Finally, it should be mentioned that, during their stay in Copenhagen the whole

sample of students has similar bicycle ownership habits, that varies around 80% and indeed more foreigners than Danes have a bicycle, but the difference is so small that cannot be considered as significant.

5.3.2 Safety & Infrastructure Cycling constitutes the only vulnerable mode of transport that can be competitive

against motor vehicles. As we will notice later, through the opinions of the participants, bicycle can be fast, safe, even comfortable and given the fact that it is healthy can present several advantages compared to other transport modes.

Although, these advantages can be achieved and revealed only under certain

circumstances that are highly connected with the level of infrastructure and the behavior of the road users. Not only the behavior of the cyclists themselves, but mostly the mainstream road users are those that create either a friendly or a non-friendly environment for vulnerable modes.

During previous sections we recorded the level of cycling infrastructure in

Copenhagen. In this section, the target is to figure out how the cyclists conceptualize these conditions and the achieved level of safety succeeded based on these conditions, both in Copenhagen and in their hometowns.

5.3.2.1 Infrastructure Figure 5-3 presents briefly the distribution of the participants’ answers in the

question referred to the level of infrastructure on a scale from 1 (not existing), to 10 (excellent). The participants were asked to rate the level of cycling infrastructure in the greater Copenhagen area given that they have a bicycle. The results that came up were predictable but also of great interest.

First of all, the mean value of the perceived level of infrastructure is much higher

for the foreigners. Looking above at the Table 5-2 we observe mean values varying between 8,55 and 9,28 for different parts of the world. In contrary the corresponding value for the Danes is only 7,09, with a standard deviation of 1,64, huge compared to the 0,81 of the foreigners.

Several conclusions can follow these remarks. First and obvious is that the

opinion of the Danes about the level of cycling infrastructure is much worse than the rest. Many intigenous rated the infrastructure with grade even below 5, that means that they are highly dissatisfied of it. The main explanation is that living in a country with so long tradition in cyclism creates bigger expectations about the required facilities. Moreover, a permanent citizen tends to spot more on negative events and “black spots” that appear inside the society he belongs, than on some advanced provided facilities, compared to other cities, because he apprehends them as something normal and given. Except all these, we should mention that there is always possibility of

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improvement for a certain facility, as it is impossible to cover every requirement and to satisfy every user totally, so it will never be possible to receive a sample with the whole population absolutely happy with the perceived level of service.

FIGURE 5-3: Assessment of cycling Infrastructure in the greater Copenhagen area

(Comparative chart between Danes and international students)

Rating of the Level of Infrastructure

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Not Existing Scale Excellent

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Danes

International

On the other hand, the foreigners appreciate more the present facilities, as they

have the opportunity to compare with their places. This observation concerns less the students coming from northern European countries and more all the rest. Refering again to Table 5-2 we notice that people coming Mediterranean or Latin American countries perceive the present facilities as almost perfect (They rate it more than 9/10). The explanation becomes clear if we see the rating for their hometowns. This indicator is not reliable for statistical analysis, as it refers to different city for each participants but the extremely small mean values of 2,92 and 4,16 allow us to export utile results. The students noticed that the facilities in their cities vary between not existed and below average. This fact may lead them exaggerate at some point about the cycling conditions of Copenhagen, just because they tried to express in a numerical way the differences they face. Northern Europeans represents a situation lying in between the other two, tending to approach Danes, as these people are more familiar with bicycle and cycling infrastructure, but still the level of satisfaction appears to be increased. An interesting notification is that no one of the international participants rated the infrastructure with less than 7/10. This clarifies that all of them consider the present facilities as at least satisfactory.

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5.3.2.2 Safety Another factor related with the infrastructure and the road condition is the

perceived sense of safety for the cyclists. One of the major disadvantages of the bicycle is that it cannot offer passive protection to the cyclist. That means that in case of an accident, the probability of suffering an injury is not negligible for the cyclist. That leads the specialists to search solutions that make the cyclists feel safer while interacting with other road users in traffic. Several movements have been done in that way, most fundamental is the construction of bicycle lanes separated from the main road.

Given these, the main aim of the researchers all these years is to discover the

factors that affect cyclist’s feeling of safety. During this part we will export some results based only on the present data. The cyclists were asked to rate their feeling of safety on a scale from 1, for totally unsafe, to 10, for totally safe.

FIGURE 5-4: Perceived feeling of safety during cycling

Rating of the feeling of safety

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

totally unsafe Scale totally safe

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Danes

International

At first, beholding at the Table 5-2 we notice a similar sense of safety between

students originatated from different places. The variety is significantly smaller than the one that appeared in the variable refered to infrastructure (for all groups it varies around 8,5, with a total standard deviation of 1,24). Also, notable is that we do not notice big difference in the behavior of Danes. The mean value of 7,91 is smaller, but given the small sample and the sampling method, these differences do not assure significant consequences. Moreover, in the Figure 5-4 we can compare the distribution of the values for the main groups and we remark that the similarity in the mean values is not accidental, but the observations are following a similar distribution, in general.

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This similarity becomes even stranger when looking again at the Table 5-1, we see that the differences between Copenhagen and several hometowns still exists in this question. That means that the students feel safer cycling in Copenhagen than in their hometowns, which is totally understandable based on the differences in infrastructure and bike culture.

These facts lead us to the conclusion that the feeling of safety is based more on

some other variables, unobserved in our survey, than on characteristics related to the origin. Personal characteristics such as tendency to risk, stability, familiarity with the use of bicycle from child age, self-confidence, natural condition etc. are more likely to affect the behavior of the cyclist.

5.3.3 Road – Cycling Behavior One of the main topics during the conversations about cyclists is the road

behavior of the mainstream road users and how it affects the cyclists. In this section, we will discuss the attitudes and behavior of the cyclists. At least about the specific age group of our survey, we tried to focus on some important sectors of the road behavior. So, the participants that had a bicycle were asked how often:

• they use a helmet • they take care of the traffic signals • they stop before pedestrian crossings and • they cycle if they have consumed alcohol. Their answer was in a scale from 1 (for never), to 5 (for always). The results are

interesting and they need to be analyzed, because they prove that even the vulnerable road users do not have perfect behavior against the law and the other road users.

5.3.3.1 Use of helmet During the survey, the participants were asked to rank themselves in frequency

of using helmet from 1 to 5 (1 was equivalent to never and 5 to always). The results of the measurement are in the chart below and they are highly discouraging. The huge majority of the students (around 90% of the international students and 65% of the natives) replied that they never use a helmet. Only 10% of Danes and no foreigners replied that they use it always. The result should make us vigilant towards a big problem.

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FIGURE 5-5: Rating for the use of helmet

Use of Helmet

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 2 3 4 5

never scale always

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Danes

International

It is obvious that bicycle does not offer any kind of passive safety to the

passenger, which means that in case of an accident the cyclist is totally unprotected. Moreover, given the fact that the bicycle can reach high speeds, the risk becomes even higher. The only way the cyclist can protect himself is by using personal equipment and helmet is the most important in the list of safety accessories, it protects the most sensitive part of our body. These thoughts do not seem to be understandable by the students, as it is proved by their answers.

Definitely, this observation should be an incentive for some movements intended

to promote the use of helmet during cycling. These movements should not aim to change suddenly the behavior of the cyclists, which is unrealistic, but to prove why they should use the helmet and also to make them believe that it is not something old-fashiones, but something cool and socially acceptable.

5.3.3.2 Attention on traffic signals In contrary to the use of helmet, the participants seem to be aware of the traffic

signals. As we can see in the following chart, more than 90% of the students seem to take care of the traffic signals either often or always.

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FIGURE 5-6: Rating for the attention given on traffic signals

Attention on Traffic Signals

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1 2 3 4 5

never Scale always

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Danes

International

5.3.3.3 Attention at pedestrian crossings Another serious aspect is the attention of the cyclists at the pedestrian crossings.

The pedestrian crossings are the most dangerous interaction point between cyclists and pedestrians, thus the careful behavior of the road users at this point can decrease the number of road accidents.

The behavior of the students seems acceptable. Almost 2/3 of the students stop

before the crossing, if they see a pedestrian passing through it. The percentage is slightly higher for the Danes, than for the rest, which represents the higher level of road behavior education and bicycle culture. Hereby, we should mention that in various countries worldwide it is still common that not even the cars stop before the zebra crossings, which is even more dangerous. Undeniably, this attitude affects also the cyclists’ road behavior. The percentages could be even higher, if the sample was also involving older ages, as young people tend to act riskier and pay less attention to the traffic rules.

An important factor that affects this behavior is the level of the infrastructure at

the pedestrian crossings. On the one hand, a lighted crossing keeps the cyclist more aware of the possible danger. For the cyclist, it is easier to notice that he is approaching a pedestrian crossing and whether someone is crossing it or not. On the other hand, in “dark” crossings, it is very common that the cyclists do not realize the existence of the pedestrian until the very last moment, that leads both of them in abrupt reactions, that often result to injuries, even if the accident is avoided.

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FIGURE 5-7: Rating of stopping for pedestrians at crossings

Attention at Pedestrian Crossings

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1 2 3 4 5

never scale always

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Danes

International

5.3.3.4 Alcohol consumption One of the major reasons of the serious traffic accidents is driving under the

influence of alcohol. This concerns both the car drivers and the cyclists. Alcohol consumption reduces the human reflexes, thus the ability to react in an unexpected occassion, so the cyclist is exposed in great danger as he is unable to handle such difficult situations.

The results refered to the students are not very promising. Most of the people

notify that they cycle ate least sometimes that they are drunk. The speed of bicycle, compared to feet, as well as the overestimation of their own abilities, are some of the reasons that lead people to keep cycling even when they have consumed alcohol. The results indicate that they do not perceive the seriousness of the risk they are taking. Moreover, we should note the fact that the observations are identical for Danes and foreigners, in contrary to previous parameters.

This should concern us more in the list of proposals that will follow. It is crucial to

propose measures that will reduce the percentage of people that cycle under the influence of alcohol.

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FIGURE 5-8: Rating of the frequency of alcohol consumption duting cycling

Alcohol Consumption

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

1 2 3 4 5

never scale always

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Danes

International

5.3.4 Reasons & Purposes for Cycling In order to affect the cycling behavior of the citizens, the first step is to figure out

the reasons they prefer the bicycle as their mean of transport and the purposes they are using it for. For example, it would be unrealistic to think that people prefer the bicycle for long trips, from one city to another. This observation seems obvious but the interaction between these observations specify the policies that should be followed for the promotion of cyclism.

5.3.4.1 Reasons for cycling During the survey, the participants that replied that they have a bicycle during

their study at DTU were asked to name the main reasons they prefer the bicycle. The replies were already structured and the participants have seven possible answers from which they should choose one or two. (see Appendix 1).

Several participants did not give exactly two answers. Because of this and

attempting to bring out more accurate results, the answers weighted proportionately. Which means that if a participant noted three possible answers, then each one of them counted for 2/3 of answer. The same happened for all the possible combinations, including those that gave only one reply. Their answer is counted double. We proceeded to this change because we assume that the opinion of each participant should be counted equally to everybody else.

In this part of the survey replied 210 Danes and 119 international students. The

following table (Table 5-9) depicts the received answers.

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TABLE 5-9: Main reasons that make the students cycle

DANES INTERNATIONAL TOTAL Cheap 157 37,4 % 105 44,1% 262 39,8%

Comfortable 12 2,9% 11 4,6% 33 5% Fast 126 30% 62 26,1% 188 28,6% Safe 0 0% 3 1,3% 3 0,5%

Healthy 93 22,1% 32 13,4% 125 19% Environmentally Friendly 19 4,5% 19 8% 38 5,8%

Other 13 3,1% 6 2,5% 19 2,9% Total 420 238 658

From this chart, we can easily distinguish for which reasons the students prefer

cycling to other modes of transport. Above all, economical reasons push almost 40% of the students to prefer bicycles. This percentage is higher for international students and an explanation could be that the mean income of Danes is one of the highest worldwide and because of that the other modes of transport seem more expensive to the foreign students than to the natives. Moreover, given the fact that public transport in Copenhagen is between the most expensive around Europe, the option of bicycle seems even more attractive in terms of economy. It would be useful to remark that in a similar survey with the different sample the results would be significantly different, as the sense of cost for someone is highly dependent on his income, so if the participants of the survey were middle-aged the results would have been slightly different.

Another reasons that rises up as important is the speed. Almost 30% of the

students, without big differences between Danes and non-Danes, feel that the bicycle is fast. As most of the times people prefer bicycle for distances shorter than 10 km, the comparison is mostly with walking and local busses. We think that the comparison in speed with walking is obvious. The wheels provide at least double speed to the cyclist, than the pedestrian can reach. About local busses, the students take into account, not only the time they will spend in the bus, but also the time they will have to wait for it. So, if for a distance of 1-2 km they have to wait 5-10 minutes to take the bus, then bicycle is faster choice. Based on that, this category also includes a latent belief that was expressed some other participants as flexibility and convenience. The reason that is flexible and always available makes it faster than other modes of transport with fixed schedules.

Moreover, almost 20% of the participants note as main reason, that cycling is

healthy. The percentage refered to the Danes is much higher, probably because of their bicycle culture and tradition. In the mentality of Danes, cycling is an easy way to combine exercise and traveling. Furthermore, the percentage of almost 15% for the rest of the participants proves that even without this traditional background, the young people in general tend to understand the importance of health, except comfort during their life and they support vulnerable transport modes, even though they demand extra effort.

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Concluding, as we analyze the basic factors that actuate people cycling, we should mention the significantly small percentage of replies supporting use of bicycle for environmental reasons. In the beginning of this survey, we would expect that, especially during this period that the environmental problems are arising more and more, people would be more focused on this problem, but finally this assumption was not so accurate. Even though, the high percentages of bicycle use, in general, may include a latent environmental interest.

5.3.4.2 Purposes of bicycle trips Concerning this variable the participants were asked to name the main purpose

of the trips they use the bicycle for. They were asked to give only one answer. In cases of double or triple answers we used the same method to weight the answers, as in the previous paragraph. For example, for someone who replied two of the possibilities, each one of them counts for half. The results are exposed in the table below:

TABLE 5-10: Main Purposes of the bicycle trips DANES INTERNATIONAL TOTAL

Go to work/university 165 78,6% 91 76,6% 256 77,8%

Exercise 6 2,9% 1 0,8% 7 2,1%

Entertainment 10 4,7% 10 8,4% 20 6,1%

Shopping 25 11,9% 16 13,4% 41 12,5%

Other 4 1,9% 1 0,8% 5 1,5%

TOTAL 210 119 329

It is obviously noticable that most of the students prefer bicycle to move to and

from university. In this kind of trips speed and flexibility counts more than comfort and luxury. The student need to be on time for the class, so he needs a mode of transport working exactly based on his needs and also reliable in terms of time. This behavior, combined with the not negligible 10% of people that prefer bicycle for shopping purpose, makes necessary several actions that will be exposed later in the list of proposals. Moreover, we should mention that in this section there is no variety between the behavior of Danes and foreigners.

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6. Statistical analysis: Preferred transport mode

6.1 Background for and aim of the analysis

Cycling as a mode of transport is something unique. It is healthy, it is environmentally friendly but also it can substitute motor vehicles, at least for short distances. During the past years several researchers have studied the factors that affect the decision of whether to cycle or not. This analysis has been based either on aggregate, or on individual observations (Hansen et al 2001, Vuk et al 2006).

Presently, we study the effect of individual sociodemographic characteristics on

the traffic behavior, and more specifically on the individual choice of transport mode. The aim of the study is to determine the population groups that are more likely to prefer bicycle. Thus, in the future, we will be able to focus some special promotional measures, or provide some incentives, to these specific groups.

The location of the survey is not coincidental. Copenhagen’s citizens have a long

tradition of using bicycles. At the same time, the city provides high quality facilities that encourage cyclism. Moreover, the available data provide the opportunity to analyze quantitatively these aspects.

We use a non-linear model in order to empirically estimate the attractiveness of

cycling as main mode of transport in urban areas, compared to other modes of transport. The underlying choice set is finite (bicycle, car, public transportation), and therefore it suits to use apply discrete choice modeling. We use a multinomial Logit model, which fits very well in this framework. An alternative specification could be the Probit. Details about the econometric specification and the data are presented below (6.2 & 6.3).

After having estimated the parameters of the model we compute the marginal

effects of the explanatory variables on the choice probabilities, and figure out the level of importance of each one of our variables. These results will give us the opportunity to proceed in more tactile results and bring out several proposals on which groups are more likely to be attracted and on which ways this attempt should take place.

6.2 Data The data used on the following analyses are originated from the Municipality of

Copenhagen and they are the same that were used for the Bicycle Account 2006 (4.1). The sample is selected randomly from all the citizens of Copenhagen

Municipality and it consists of 1002 people older than 16 years old, that differ from year to year. Our data is cross-section, as every individual has participated in the survey once. From the participants of the survey 567 are women and 435 are men. Moreover, the sample is well weighed, in terms of age, education level, occupation, salary etc.

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During the survey, the participants are requested to answer several questions about the mode of transport they prefer, and based on their preferences they are grouped as cyclists, car drivers or users of public transport. Due to the fact that the survey focuses on the promotion of cyclism, the car drivers and the users of public transport are mostly asked about their interaction with the cyclists in traffic. On the other hand, the cyclists are subjected in various questions concerning the cycling facilities and their cycling habits. Finally, all the participants mention several sociodemographic characteristics refered to themselves and their families.

In order to provide accuracy to our results we rejected 156 observations from the

sample, because they had several missing or confusing values. The confusing values were related to the variables of age, education level and income, where some of the participants rejected to answer. Moreover, we rejected the answers which stated that they do not know which transport mode they prefer, as they would create a meaningless extra alternative in our dependent variable.

Given these facts, we concluded to use a revised sample consisted of 846

participants that replied the whole questionnaire in an acceptable way. This reduction constitutes around 15% of the original sample. We accept that the missing observations are randomly distributed in our sample, thus the results are unbiased and consistent (Allison, 2002).

6.2.1 Explanatory Variables The main target of this analysis is to relate the preferred transport mode with

several sociodemographic characteristics of the citizens of Copenhagen. Thus, the selection of these characteristics was of crucial importance. Hereby, we will explain the independent variables that depicted the individual attributes of the participants throughout our survey.

First of all, we used two variables that were explaining whether or not the

participants has access to a bike, to a car and one more to figure out how often they prefer to walk for distances longer than 10 minutes of walking. The use of these variables is not so common, but they made our evaluated model fit much better to the existed observations.

Moreover, we observed some variables related to professional characteristics of

the individuals, such as the education level, the household income and the occupation. These attributes show great interest because they express the relation between some evolutionary procedures with the choice of transport mode. Though, it should be mentioned, that the variable of job was slightly difficult to be numerically transformed in a way that can express this evolution. This is ought to the kind of the possible answers, that were covering the major professional sectors in a general way, not based totally on skilled characteristics. For example, the occupants that refered as civil servants cover a big percentage of the population with several different characteristics and skills. The same problem turns up in other alternative professions.

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Furthermore, the age and the gender are two attributes that describe in a unique

way each individual and in addition to the number of children that live in the household they can describe some personal particularities of the participants. The age is grouped in decades for easier view. Men are refered as 0 and women as 1.

Concluding, the numerical transformation of the data is constructed in a way to

show evolutionary steps of each attribute. For example, the education level is graded as 0 for the primary school, until 6 for long university studies. At this point we should underline that the correct selection of characteristics provides us the opportunity to infer reliable and useful results, knowing that the purpose of a survey is not only the mathematical accuracy, but also the opportunity to provide proposals and solutions about social problems and reveal policy implications.

6.3 Theoretical Model In the following section it is described briefly the theoretical background that will

be used during this analysis (McFadden, 1974; Train 2003).

6.3.1 Discrete Choice Models As it was previously refered, we plan to use a Discrete Choice Model (DCM) to

describe our conditions. The reason of this decision is that with the DCM (not linear model), the insertion of the aggregate values of the independent variables will not result an unbiased estimate of the average response (in contrary to the linear regression models that the estimation of the aggregate values of dependent variables is obtained by the aggregate values of the explanatory variables). This difference makes the DCM more reliable and accurate than a linear model.

In order to validate this plan, we should check the basic assumptions that

characterize the choice set (set of alternatives) in a DCM. First of all, based on the perspective of the decision maker -- the subjects in our occation -- the alternatives must be mutually exclusive, which means that when the participant is choosing one alternative, he is obligated not to choose any of the other alternatives. Second, the choice set must be exhaustive, so in each situation all the possible alternatives are included and the participant must choose exactly one of them. These two conditions are not restrictive, because there are many different ways to define appropriately the alternatives and assure that they are exclusive and the choice set is exhaustive. In the present example, both these conditions are satisfied. A final restriction is that the number of alternatives must be finite. In our case, the possible values of the dependent variable are given by the author so their number is finite and specified at the beginning of the survey.

Concluding, we ensured that using a Discrete Choice Model would be

appropriate for our analysis, as it covers all the restrictions. The next step is to figure out which is the appropriate model to depict the correlation of our variables.

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6.3.2 The Random Utility Models The basic assumption on a DCM is that the subjects are utility maximizers.

Classes of models that satisfy this assumption are the Random Utility Models (Marschak, 1960). Random Utility Models correlate the explanatory variables with the probability to choose an alternative, rather than with the observed choice.

In a Random Utility Model the decision maker has a finite set of alternatives,

{1,…,J}. Each choice yields a specific level of utility, which is different for each decision maker in {1,…,N}. The utility for the decision maker n to choose the alternative j is equal to Unj. The decision maker will choose the alternative that yields the highest utility. That is, he will choose the alternative j if only Unj > Uni for every i≠j. However, the researcher does not know the utility of each alternative for each individual. The only observed elements of the individual utility are some attributes of the subject that correspond to a deterministic part of the decision maker’s utility, called the representative utility, Vnj. This utility can be estimated statistically but is different from the aggregate utility of the decision maker because the researcher cannot observe all the factors. The actual utility can be described as Unj = Vnj + εnj, where εnj captures the factor that the researcher does not observe. Based on this, we realize that knowing the representative utility of each alternative does not ensure that the subject will make a specific decision every time, but there is a probability to make each one of the given alternatives.

The probability that decision maker N chooses the alternative i is Pni = Prob(Uni > Unj, for every j ≠ i ) = Prob(Vni + εni > Vnj + εnj, for every j ≠ i ) = Prob(εnj − εni < Vni − Vnj, for every j ≠ i ). As it is obvious, the main focus of the researcher is to assume the unobserved

factors in an optimal way, that will allow him to depict reliably the actual utility of each decision maker. Several models have been created to achieve the best possible correlation given certain circumstances. One of the most well-known and commonly used models is the Logit model that will be used in this analysis and it is described afterwards.

6.3.3 The Logit Model The Logit Model is the most widely used Discrete Choice Model, mostly because

it is easy and applicable in many situations, thus providing great convenience to the researcher, and still the results do not fall short in accuracy and reliability.

As a random utility model, the Logit model follows the principle that the utility Unj

of an alternative j, out of finite number of N choices can be described by a deterministic utility Vnj, known to the researcher, because it is based on several explanatory parameters and an unobserved utility εnj. Thus, the formula that explains the utility becomes Unj = Vnj + εnj for every j.

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One of the main assumptions characterizing the Logit model is that the

unobserved utility is independently, identically distributed across individuals and follows the Extreme Value Distribution, else called Gumbel. The density of the unobserved component is given by the following formula:

f (εnj) = exp(-εnj) exp[-exp(-εnj)] and the cumulative distribution is: F (εnj) = exp[-exp(-εnj)] One main characteristic of the Gumbel distribution is that it has heavier tails than

the normal distribution. Though the behavior of the variable is less ordinary than the one of normal distribution, in practice the differences are almost invisible.

The probability that subject n is choosing the alternative i, derived as following

(McFadden, 1974): Pni = Prob(Vni + εni > Vnj + εnj, for every j ≠ i ) = Prob(εnj < εni + Vni − Vnj , for every j ≠ i ) Given the fact that the values of the unobserved utility are independent, the

cumulative distribution for all j≠i is the product of the individual cumulative distributions. After this step we calculate the choice probability as the integral of Pni | εni over all the values of εni weighted by its density. Another advantage of the Logit model is the fact that the choice probabilities have closed form solutions:

Pni = eVni / ∑j e

Vnj

Moreover, the logit probabilities exhibit several properties that enforce theoritically the accuracy of the method. First, the sum of the choice probabilities is necessarily 1, which means that the decision maker will choose one of the alternatives for sure. Second, the logit probabilities Pni belong to (0,1). Whenever the researcher rules out the possibility of a choice occuring then he can exclude it in the first place. Similarly, a choice is assigned probability equal to 1, whenever it is the only available choice.

In many situations, the choice probabilities are expressed in a more succinct

form. In this form, which is expressed analytically below, we normalize the constants of one alternative to zero. The constants of the other alternatives are interpreted as being relative to the one that is normalized to zero. For this reason it is irrelevant which alternative we will choose to normalize and it will not affect our results. This form is used in most of the textbooks (Train, 2003).

The model is formed as it follows. Let y denote the random variable that explains

the alternative choices and taking values {0, 1,…, J}, fo J be a positive integer and X is a set of K explanatory variables, such as age, gender, job etc. in our occasion. Our

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purpose is to decribe the effect of X in the choice probabilities P(y=j|x), j=0,1,…,J. The probabilities must sum to 1, so P(y=0|x) can be determined if we know the probabilities for j=1,…, J.

We define x as 1xK vector with first-element unity and βj as Kx1 vector, j=1,…J.

The choice probabilities of the Model are: P(y=j|x) = exp(xβj) / [ 1 + ∑exp(xβh)], (j=1,…, J and sum from h=1 to h=J). Given the fact that the sum of the probabilities must equal to unity we determine

that: P(y=0|x) = 1 / [ 1 + ∑exp(xβh)], (sum from h=1 to h=J). Where, as we can see in the nominator, the constants of this alternative are

normalized to 0 (zero). Finally, we notice that when J=1 we have only a β1 vector of unknown parameters and we get the same probabilities as from a simple binary logit model.

6.3.4 Advantages and Limitations of Logit Models The applicability of the logit models is based on three basic advantages that are

described below. Thus, these advantages are followed by some limitations in their power (Train, 2003).

At first, there is a significant variety between the value of importance that each

decision maker places to each attribute. For example, for a person with high salary, the convenience provided by a transport mode, is more important than the price he must pay in order to use it. This phenomenon is called taste variation. The logit model is able to handle the taste variation, but only if it related to observed characteristics of the decision maker (systematic taste variation). In case of random taste variation, where the tastes vary because of the different individual preferences and concerns of the decision makers (and not on observed characteristics), the logit models are not appropriate to analyze the sample. Even though, in some cases of random taste variation, the researcher uses logit models for convenience reasons, assuming that the model will approximate the average tastes.

Additionally, in events of repeated choice situations, the logit model is

appropriate only when the unobserved factors are not correlated over time. In case of correlation of the unobserved factors the logit model cannot handle the situation. This remark is applicable in cases of panel data, which is not relevant to our situation, so we will not work more on it.

Finally, an important implication is the ability of logit models to handle the

substitution patterns. The fact that the researcher determines the representative utility of each choice, reduces the flexibility of substitution forms. The logit models imply several assumptions about the effects of the substitutions of alternatives that limit the

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cases where they are applicable. For example, the addition of a public bus in a net where bicycle and car were the only alternatives will not attract the same number of users from the two transport modes. However, the logit model cannot take into account this differentiation, thus it is based on an assumption that specifies the way of substitution. It is called Independence from Irrelevant Alternatives and it is described below. If the alternatives manage to satisfy this assumption, then the logit model is appropriate for the analysis of the sample.

6.3.5 The Independence from Irelevant Alternatives The previous analysis (6.3.3) is based only on statistical assumptions. Namely,

the error term follows the Extreme Value distribution. In addition, we assume independence of the error terms across inividuals.

An alternative approach could be based on behavioral assumptions. Practically,

the result of this approach is that given the ratio between the probabilities of two alternative choices is not affected by the presence or not of another alternative choice. For example, assume that a decision maker has to choose between two alternatives, A and B, with choice probabilities proportionately 0.7 and 0.3. If we add an alternative C with known probability to happen 0.5, then the new choice probabilities of A and B will be 0.35 and 0.15. Thus, we notice that even the fact that the total probability of each alternative changed, the ratio between the choices A and B continued to be the same. This is a characteristic property of the Logit model and it is described as the Independence from Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA), and describes the substitution effects between different choices.

There are several specification tests that ensure the satisfaction of IIA. The

specification test that we used in our analysis will be described in the section 6.5.4.

6.4 Descriptive Statistics

TABLE 6-1: Descriptive statistical values for all the variables VARIABLES MEAN VALUE MEDIAN VARIANCE ST.DEVIATION Prefered mode 1,033 1 0,472 0,687 Access to bicycle 0,844 1 0,131 0,363 Access to car 0,468 0 0,249 0,499 Children 0,398 0 0,623 0,789 Occupation 2,783 2 3,233 1,797 Education level 3,550 4 5,107 2,259 Income 3,689 3 3,803 1,949 Age Group 2,985 3 2,287 1,512 Gender 0,560 1 0,247 0,496 Walking 1,162 1 1,547 1,243

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This section includes several descriptive statistics that aim to provide a first idea to the reader. It contains the mean values, the medians, the variances and the standard deviations of the explanatory variables, as well as some charts that figure qualitatively the correlation between the prefered transport mode and several independent variables.

Comparative charts In this section we will obtain a first impression about the different attributes and

how they affect the preference of transport mode. Some simple charts with the percentages of prefered mode for each alternative value of the independent variable will help us on that purpose. The data that will not be used in the estimation have already been deleted and they will not appear even in these charts.

FIGURE 6-2: Preference of transport mode related to occupation

PREFERRED MODE per OCCUPATION

0,00

5,00

10,00

15,00

20,00

25,00

30,00

35,00

40,00

45,00

Uns

kille

dw

orke

r

Ski

lled

wor

ker

Civ

il se

rvan

t

Inde

pend

ent

In tr

aini

ng

Ret

ired

Out

of j

ob

Oth

er

OCCUPATION

%

CAR

BICYCLE

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

In Figure 6-2, we observe the responses of each professional category and how

they are distributed. We should mention that all categories are not represented with the same number of participants, so the most important remarks concern comparative behaviors between the same professions. A useful not refers to the retired citizens that constitue more than 30% of the public transport users, at the same time they conmprise less than 10% of the other categories. Moreover, normal is the increased percentage of bicycle use from students and trainees. The picks in the skilled workers and the civil servants concern all the alternatives and they have to do with the large number of participants that work in these professions.

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FIGURE 6-3: Preference of transport mode related to the level of education

PREFERED MODE per EDUCATION LEVEL

0,00

5,00

10,00

15,00

20,00

25,00

30,00

35,00

Primary school High school Technicalschool

Vocationalschool

Short uni Middle uni Long uni

EDUCATION LEVEL

%

CAR

BICYCLE

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Figure 6-3 refers to the educational level and how it affects the prefered transport

mode. The main notifications here are the tendency to cycle that characterizes the citizens that have studied more than five years in the university and it is explained further in later stage and also the preference of the graduates of primary school towards the public means of transport.

FIGURE 6-4: Preference of transport mode related to the level of the household

income

PREFERED MODE per INCOME

0,00

5,00

10,00

15,00

20,00

25,00

30,00

35,00

Under50k

50-100k 100-200k

200-300k

300-400k

400-500k

500-600k

Over600k

HOUSEHOLD INCOME

%

CAR

BICYCLE

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

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Furthermore, we observe in Figure 6-4, that fairly rich people reject to use the public transport and prefer the convenience of their car. Also, it is interesting that they represent a significant percentage the cyclists. Usually, people with medium salaries tend to support the public transport. We should also mention that the participants that prefer cyclism seem to be distributed more smoothly among the income categories.

FIGURES 6-5 & 6-6: Preference of transport mode related to the gender

PREFERED MODE for MEN

28%

51%

21%

CAR

BICYCLE

PT

PREFERED MODE for WOMEN

18%

53%

29%

Finally, as far as it concerns the behavior of men and women, we observe similar

levels of preference towards the use of bicycle, around one out of two chooses to cycle more frequently. In contrary to this, almost 10% more women choose the public transport instead of the car.

6.5 Estimation & Results As it is described above our data consist of 846 observations, from which we will

correlate several sociodemographic characteristics with the prefered transport mode of each individual. For this purpose we will create a Multinomial Logit Model using LIMDEP econometric software.

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6.5.1 Estimated model of prefered transport mode

TABLE 6-7: Multinomial Logit Estimates of Bicycle and Bus Decisions

Dependent Variable: Mode of transport Bicycle (mode=1) Public Transport (mode=2) Explanatory Var. Coefficient t-Ratio St.Error Coefficient t-Ratio St.Error Constant 0,32011 0,40797 0,7846 2,61350 3,97226 0,6579 Access to bicycle 4,35513 7,20734 0,6043 0,44673 1,22188 0,3656 Access to car -4,24894 -8,52611 0,4983 -4,42311 -8,79475 0,5029 Children 0,34678 2,59089 0,1338 0,03580 0,20997 0,1705 Occupation 0,14400 2,14689 0,0671 0,16573 2,23075 0,0743 Education level 0,06355 1,18834 0,0535 -0,10642 -1,77760 0,0599 Income -0,15768 -2,41739 0,0652 -0,20078 -2,61803 0,0767 Age -0,18148 -2,00118 0,0907 0,17329 1,81374 0,0955 Gender 0,06314 0,28221 0,2237 0,43511 1,67532 0,2597 Walking 0,17423 1,92734 0,0904 0,16711 1,62283 0,1030 Number of Observations: 846 Degrees of freedom: 18 Percent Correctly Predicted: 69,4 Log-likelihood value: -568,26 Likelihood Ratio Index: 0,6114 Prob. Value for Likelihood Ratio: 0,0000

The three alternative prefered transport modes are the car (that we took as the

basic category), the bicycle and the public transport. The main purpose of this survey is to bring out proposals that aim to support the bicycle usage and guide to the reduction of car usage for urban trips. Given this fact, we will determine the characteristics that mainly affect the choice of transport mode.

It is difficult to explain the results of the table of coefficients. But, we can export

some quick results. For example an increase in the household income of about 100k DKK reduces approximately the log-odds between choosing a bicycle and choosing a car by 0,16, and between choosing public transport and choosing a car by 0,20. In practice that means that someone that earns more money is more possible to prefer the car than the bicycle or the public transport. Moreover, a person that is 10 years older is 0,18 more likely (in terms of log-odds) to prefer his car than his bike, but also he is 0,17 more likely to prefer the public transport than his car. Furthermore, women seem much more likely to prefer the public transport than their private car, but without showing a significant difference in preference between the car and the bicycle. Finally, an important mention is that people with access to a bicycle tend to prefer more the public transport than their car.

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Additionally, the following table compares the predicted values of the model with the actual choices of the participants. This method could explain the goodness of fit of the model. However, it is recommended to be avoided because the information of the researcher do not allow him to predict precisely the choice of the decision maker, but only the probability that each participant will choose a specific alternative. Though, the following table plays only informative role. Specific test about the goodness of fit is described later.

TABLE 6-8: Comparison between the predicted and the actual choices of the participants

Predicted Actual 0 1 2 Total 0 104 73 9 186 1 46 384 16 446 2 27 88 99 214 Total 175 545 124 846

Further remarks and important results will be exposed in the section of the

marginal effects (6.5.5) and in the part of discussion (6.6).

6.5.2 Hypothesis Testing Theoretical Background Several methods can be used to test hypotheses about specific explanatory

variables, such as whether their coefficient is zero, which means that they do not provide significant difference in the model.

The most common method is the t-test. The t-test statistics represent a

stochastic variable that is symmetric around zero. Our hypothesis is whether our coefficients have a mean value significantly different than zero. Higher value of t means higher chance of rejecting the hypothesis. If we do not manage to reject the hypothesis for a specific variable, this means that it does not improve significantly the model. The results of the t-test are exposed above.

In cases of more complex hypotheses we can use the likelihood ratio test. For

this test we have to calculate the model twice. The first time, we use all the explanatory variables in our model. The second time we remove the variables that we want to check. Afterwards, we note the maximum values of log-likelihood function for each test and two times the difference of these values is the value of the test statistic. For a number of degrees of freedom equal to the variables that we excluded in the second estimation, we find the critical value of the chi-squared distribution. If this value is smaller than the one we calculated from the test statistic then the hypothesis is rejected, which means that the excluded variables improve significantly our model.

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Present situation Presently, the variables of education, gender & walking fail to pass the t-test,

which means that they do not provide significant improvement to our model. However, applying the likelihood-ratio test without including these three variables brings up the result that their existence provides significant difference in the accuracy of the result. The calculations appear in the following table:

TABLE 6-9: Likelihood-Ratio Test

Log-Likelihood Number of Variables All variables -568,26 18 Excluding the 3 variables -578,71 12 LR = 2 * [LL(1)-LL(2)] 20,9 6 è X2(99%) = 16,81

Prob( LR > x2 ) > 99%, which means that it is over 99% sure that the model

explains more efficiently our dependent variable with the addition of these three explanatory variables.

6.5.3 Goodness of fit The next step is to testify whether the model fits the data precisely. We can apply

several methods for this purpose. Thus, it is important to mention that these methods are not so accurate indicators and they do not provide us so useful information. For this reason we will apply only one method in our analysis.

The method is called Likelihood Ratio Index and it tests the performance of the

estimated model compared to a model with zero coefficients. In order to make this comparison, we use the log-likelihood function and calculate the following ratio:

ρ = 1 – [ LL(model) / LL(0) ] If the likelihood of the model is approximately the same as the likelihood of the

model with parameters equal to zero, then LL(model)/LL(0)=1 è ρ = 0 And this is the lowest possible value of ρ. If the estimated model was perfect, then it’s likelihood would be equal to the

unity, and the logarithm of the likelihood equal to zero: LL(model) = 0 è ρ = 1 And this is the highest possible value of ρ.

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In our occasion ρ = 0,6114. The values that are between the extreme can be used only for the comparison of similar projects and not as absolute measures. Given that fact the only information we can take from this indicator is that our model fits to the data in an acceptable level, which however we cannot determine. .

6.5.4 Specification Test Theoretical Background The assumption of Independence from Irrelevant Alternatives (6.3.5) is a very

convenient tool, which allows us to use the simple Logit Model. However, this assumption does not hold in every case. In fact, it would be unrealistic to state that it is totally representative for the alternatives of our model. Thus, we should perform a spefication test to determine whether this assumption is applicable in the present occasion.

The fundamental idea of the test is that the IIA holds if the values of the

coefficients are constant and they do not come from another distribution. This is tested if we estimate a Mixed Multinomial Logit Model and we verify that the variance of the mixing distribution is zero. The test is based on the following theorem (McFadden & Train, 2000):

For a choice set C = {1,…, J}, and xi the 1xK vector of attributes of the alternative

i. We estimate the probabilities of the parameter a, in the simple Multinomial Logit Model, using maximum likelihood and then we create the dummy variables zti, where t are selected components of xi, as follows:

zti = 0,5 (xti – xtC)2, with xtC = ∑j[ xtj * Lc (j; x, â)], j ε C We use a Likelihood Ratio test, which was described above, in order to omit

these variables from our model, if they do not provide significant improvement. The degrees of freedom equal the number of dummy variables that we use and they are linearly independent of x (In cases of variables with binary choice, such as gender, the new dummy variables are collinear to the already existed).

Present Situation In our occasion, five explanatory variables were selected (Children, Occupation,

Education, Income & Age). In all of them the decision maker had more than two alternative responses, in order to avoid collinearity. We executed the model with any possible combination of these dummy variables and the results proved that the new models did not provide significant difference. Thus, we conclude that the Independence from Irrelevant Alternatives holds in our sample and the Multinomial Logit Model is adequate.

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6.5.5 Marginal Effects Theoretical background The table of coefficients was the basis of our model, but it is not able to reply

every question. For example, we determined that an increase of the household income affects more positively the use of car, than the use of bicycle. But, we were not able to specify to what extent it is affected the probability of choosing each mode separately. The solution for these problems is the use of the marginal effects. The marginal effects constitute the derivatives of the choice probabilities for each explanatory variable. The calculation of the derivative provides the opportunity to specify the change in the probability that a participant chooses an alternative for a unitary increase of one explanatory variable.

Let Pni the probability that participant n chooses the alternative i and zni an

observed variable. In cases that the representative utility (Vni) of the alternative is linear, with coefficient βz, and we keep the utilities of the other alternatives stable, the derivative becomes:

∂Pni/∂zni = [∂(eVni / ∑j e

Vnj)] / ∂zni = = (∂Vni/∂zni) * Pni * (1 – Pni) = = βz * Pni * (1 – Pni) The higher value of this derivative is when Pni = 0,5 and becomes zero when

Pni=0 or Pni=1. This means that the effect of a change is higher when there is higher uncertainty about the choice. If the alternative is either unlikely to be chosen (Pni=0), or it will be chosen for sure (Pni=1), then the changes in the observed factors do not play important role.

Moreover, an explanatory variable related to another alternative j may affect the

probability of alternative i being chosen in the following way (Notice that the probability refers to the alternative i, Pni, when the observed factor affects the alternative j, znj)

∂Pni/∂znj = [∂(eVni / ∑k e

Vnk)] / ∂znj = = - (∂Vnj/∂znj) * Pni * Pnj

Again, we assume that the representative utility is linear with coefficient βz. In

that case, a change in an observed factor causes opposite results to the probability of alternative j and the probability of any other choice. For example, in case of an attribute with positive coefficient, if znj is increased, then the probability of choosing any other alternative is decreased.

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The sum of the derivatives must sum to zero, as a result of the requirement that the sum of the probabilities must sum to one. Given that fact, an improvement in the probability of one alternative must equal the sum of decreases of the other alternatives due to that factor.

The most accurate method to test the marginal effects is to do it separately for

each individual. But, in cases of big samples this is difficult and inconvenient, so a useful way is to record the marginal effetcs averaged over the individuals.

Present situation

TABLE 6-10: Marginal Effects of all the explanatory variables VARIABLE CAR BICYCLE PUBLIC TRANSPORT Access to bicycle - 0,3393 + 0,7074 - 0,3679 Access to car + 0,4591 - 0,3001 - 0,1590 Children - 0,0270 + 0,0563 - 0,0293 Occupation - 0,0161 + 0,0087 + 0,0074 Education level - 0,0014 + 0,0214 - 0,0200 Income + 0,0183 - 0,0076 - 0,0107 Age + 0,0080 - 0,0482 + 0,0402 Gender - 0,0187 - 0,0317 + 0,0504 Walking - 0,0184 + 0,0137 + 0,0047

As it was mentioned above, the matrix of the marginal effects provides more

visible and important results. For this reason we will analyze it more in depth. First of all, we just notice the result about the factors of access to bicycle and car.

As it was expected, these factors affect highly positively the probabilities of bicycle and car respectively. This notification is not worthy to be explained more, as it is obvious that the access to a bicycle is a fundamental requirement in order to use it and then to prefer it compared to the others.

Secondly, we remark that the appearance of children under sixteen years old in

the household favors the use of bicycle. On the other hand the negative effect against the other modes of transport varies around the same levels. Explaining, the participants that live with young children are their sisters/brothers, or their parents that would normally be mid-aged, usually no more than 55 years old. This fact provides them better natural condition, a factor that encourages sports and cycling. Additionally, parents tend to educate their children to cycle, so they try to behave as an example towards them.

Moreover, the education level affects positively cyclism (although we should

mention that it does not affect significantly, based on the t-test). Citizens with longer educational life tend to prefer the bicycle than the other modes. The higher the level, the more people understand the positive effects of cyclism, individually and environmentally. They seem to be more interested in health and environmental protection, than in speed and convenience that are provided by the other modes (see

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also 7.3). Also, it should be mentioned that mostly public transport is negatively affected by this factor, showing that even for educated people it is difficult to separate from their car.

In contrary to this, higher incomes seem to act in the opposite way. People with

bigger salaries seem to prefer the convenience of their car. The ability to cover easily the maintenance costs of their car in order to cover their needs, in addition to the flexibility and isolation that it provides are the main reason for this tendency. Thus, it seems that uneducated rich people constitute a social group that is very unlikely to be attracted by cyclism. The analysis about the income factor is separated from the one about the occupation factor. This happens because the kind of available answers for the variable of occupation were difficult to be categorised accurately and provide some useful results. Based on this, we will not work further on this factor.

Furthermore, another important and expected result is that the increase of age

discourages the decision makers from choosing the bicycle as their prefered mode of transport. This remark is obvious if we take into account the requirements of cycling, about fitness and stamina. However, the encouraging element is that older people turn more to the use of public transport and not to the use of their car. So, even if they do not improve their natural condition, at least they do not contribute to the environmental pollution.

Also, the gender is a factor that favors the use of public transport. Specifically,

women are more likely to use the public transport than the car or the bicycle. We understand that because in the variable men were refered as zero and women as unity, which means that an increase in the observed factor in the model, implies a woman instead of a man. The higher interest of women in convenience, added to the higher percentage of mail drivers, is the main explanation of these results.

Finally, citizens that like to walk frequently prefer more the bicycle and the public

transport. Many of the reasons we have already mentioned are able to explain this result. Usually, people that prefer to walk do matter more about their health, which is an encouraging factor for cycling. Additionally, they tend to care less about convenience and speed during their trip, which also favors cycling and use of public means of transport. Also, most of the times, they concern more about the protection of the environment.

Concluding, during this section we detrmined the factors that affect the behavior

of the decision makers and we are able to discuss about proposals and measures that can promote vulnerable transportation modes and limit the urban use of car.

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6.6 Discussion & Policy Implications The main purpose of these surveys is to carry out some results that could lead to

positive effects for the society. During the present we discussed the individual characteristics that determine the prefered transport mode for the citizens of Copenhagen. The model we used did not provide us complete information in order to define the behavior of each individual. Instead, it allows us to evaluate the probability of each alternative to be chosen by a participant. Due to that fact, we have the opportunity to predict the change of behavior, given a specific change change of attributes. Thus, to predict some measures focused on specific social groups that could promote the vulnerable transportation modes.

First of all, we observed that decreased income and age and increased level of

education, are three factors that encourage cyclism. These characteristics define the profile of a university student. This fact means that the university students are likely to be attracted by cyclism even more than now. In this direction there are several measures that can be proposed, such as the improvement of cycling facilities inside the areas of the universities, as many times the cycle paths are not extended inside the university area. Moreover, knowing that students, usually, have low income, a discount in the price of the bicycle for the students would be a serious incentive to attract them.

In addition to this, low income is not only a characteristic of the students. All the

not well-paid employees would be more interested in cyclism if they perceive it as a mode that can provide efficient, fast, but mostly cheap transportation. There are various ways to promote this perception. Nevertheless, the maintenance cost for a bike, even if it is much smaller than for a car, or from the bus ticket, it is still considerable. However, it is impossible to provide a free bicycle to each citizen. But, it would be possible to create specific places that could provide cheap service for simple bicycle damages. Even more, the “city bikes”, which provide transportation almost for free, could be implemented in a more extended level.

Furthermore, another social group that could be attracted would be the

families with young children that as we mentioned are more likely to cycle. The parents want to make the children familiar with the bicycle, so they also tend to use it themselves. Informative conferences about the positive effects of cyclism could be organised at schools, concerning not only the students, but mostly the parents. In this way more parents will evaluate positively the effects of cyclism and they will also reflect this opinion to their children. Even more, the supply of children with their first bicycle equipment for free can be a great incentive for both parents and children.

Finally, the observation that the people who like to walk are more likely to prefer

cycling shows that they seem to understand the healthy results of cyclism and they perceive it as a nice way of exercise. This should be the main focus of the promotional effort. This effort should aim to make more people realize the importance of exercise, in general, and apprehend cyclism as an effective method of training and a useful and healthy habit. An informational campaign could inform the citizens about all the positive effects of cyclism, focusing on people that concern more for their fitness. A more general campaign, concerned on the effects of training and focused on citizens not

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accustomed to practice a lot, could comprise the first step in a chain of information that include the cyclism and its positive effects.

In conclusion, our analysis aimed to represent the individual preferences based

on several observed factors. However, accurate is this effort, there are always characteristics that we are not able to observe, due to lack of working experience, or lack of appropriate data, or even lack of knowledge. Due to these facts, there will always exist a better way to represent these behaviors, but hopefully, this survey helped the presentation of some outcomes that can be useful for the promotion of the vulnerable transportation

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7. CYCLING IN PATRAS 7.1 Aim of the study This part is referred to Patras, in Greece and it constitutes a case study for the

opportunity of implementing cycling in a city without existent infrastructure or bicycle culture. During this study, we try to depict the traffic conditions of Patras, as well as which is the status of bicycle as part of the transport system of the city. For this purpose, we made an ivestigation requesting how the cyclists perceive the traffic environment of the city. The investigation was based on a questionnaire, edited by the author of the project (see Appendix 3). The study concludes in several proposals for the development of cycling in Patras, including a complete plan about the establishment of a cycling route, to connect the center of the city with the university.

7.2 Introduction to Patras Greece is a country with very mountainous mainland. Almost 80% of the country

consists of mountains and hills (source: wikipedia.org). This fact leads the inhabitants to adjust appropriately their transport habits. The continuous hills, in most of the cities, encourage them to make use of motor vehicles, instead of vulnerable transport modes, even for short trips. This is one of the main reasons that excluded, almost completely, the bicycle from the transport habits of the Greeks. However, nowadays, the serious traffic problems in the big cities, as well as the environmental changes, prove to the citizens that the reduction of car usage is a serious necessity. Thus, serious efforts have started lately for the development of cycling conditions in most of the big cities of the country (Vlastos et al. 2000, 2005).

Patras is the third biggest city of Greece, located in the western part of the

country, around 220km far from Athens. Based on the most recent census, the population of the city is approximately 190.000 citizens. Approximately 40.000 of them are students at higher education level (either at the University or at the Technological Education Institution). The main economic activity of the city is the big harbor, which comprises the major connection between Greece and Italy and is one of the major economical sources for the citizens. The existence of the harbor affects, among others, the traffic conditions of the city, which will be exposed afterwards.

7.2.1 Existent traffic & cycling conditions in Patras 7.2.1.1 Overview As every city, Patras has some special characteristics, concerning the street

layout and the structuring. Therefore, we should identify these particularities before describing the existing traffic conditions.

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First of all, most of the roads, at least in the center of the city, are planned based on the old-fashioned regulation that predicted roadway 6 meters wide and pavement 1,5-2 meters. Only a few of the main streets are wider. This fact makes harder the construction of separate tracks for the cyclists. However, there have been several studies that propose methods to implement bicycle tracks into a network consisted of narrow streets (among others: ADONIS 1998, Vlastos 2000).

FIGURE 7-1: Map of the center of Patras

*(http://www.planetware.com)

Secondly, in the city plan of the urban complex of Patras is applied the

orthogonal rule. With one of the two directions parallel to the coastline. This can be very useful for the application of additional traffic plans, because it allows the choice of several alternative routes for the direction of a specific traffic flow.

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Moreover, almost all the roads that are vertical to the coastline, they lead to the coastal road, element that will be used in our plan. (Figure 7-1 depicts better this net of normal rectangulars, directed along or vertically to the coast). Also, most of the roads are directed for only one-way traffic, fact that improves the speed and the provided service in each artery.

Furthermore, the city is divided into two parts, the Upper and the Lower city. This

separation expresses some historical and also a geographical differenciation, because there is considerable variation in elevation between the areas located closer to and further away from the coast. This leads to the existence of roads with declination, element important for our planning decisions.

Finally, the university area is not located in the center of the city but in a

significant distance from it (around 8 kilometers). It is built in an area separated from other buildings, with wider roads and available space for extensions of the road network (such as the construction of bicycle tracks). The following map shows the distance between the city center and the university area. The importance of this observation will be revealed in later section.

FIGURE 7-2: Extended map of Patras, including the university area

*(http://maps.google.com/)

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7.2.1.2 Traffic Problems & Cycling Conditions This part will describe shortly the traffic conditions, confronted by the road users

while traveling in Patras, with some special attention towards the cyclists. Based on experience, a major observation is that the citizens of Patras are used

to drive even for short urban trips. They tend to use their cars for distances that they could easily cover on foot. Moreover, they avoid the use of public transport. The main excuse for this behavior is that they do not have any incentives to change their transport habits.

The public transport is constituted of 10 lines of urban busses that cover the

major part of the city, in frequencies that vary between 10 minutes and 1 hour. The schedule of the busses is not accurate and the prices are higher compared to other Greek cities. This discourages the citizens from prefering it. During recent years, the idea of the construction of a TRAM rail service has started being discussed, even though specific decisions have not been published yet.

The extended use of private cars leads to congestion problems, indispensable for

a city of this size. The narrow roads are not able to serve so high traffic loads, as well as the parking areas are not enough and this is another characteristic of the existent conditions. The citizens, trying to find the most convenient place to park, do not respect the regulation about the legal parking lots. This behavior provokes problems to the rest of the traffic flow, or to the movement of the other road users, such as the pedestrians, the cyclists and the disabled people. It is slightly common to see people creating a second line of parked cars, next to the legal one. As it is obvious, these actions are reducing traffic capacity. A typical example is shown in Picture 7-3, where the van that follows, is not able to overtake the stopped car, which interrupts the whole traffic flow. Moreover, several people insist to park their cars on the pavements, ignoring the fact that the pedestrians are not able to pass any more, as it shown in the second picture. As an effort to restrict the parking problems, the municipality has established a system of payment for parking in the center of the city.

Another serious aspect concerns the condition of the roadways. Lack of

maintenance, combined with frequent rainfalls, lead to the appearance of numerous bumps and potholes. The potholes provide damage to the car, inconvenience to the driver of the car and danger to the cyclists and the motorcyclists.

Concluding, the major problems of the traffic conditions in Patras can be included

in two phrases, lack of infrastructure and lack of education. The facilities, refered either to roadways or public transport, are not adequate and the drivers are not educated to respect the other road users, or to be conscious towards the society. However, these problems can be solved. With careful and appropriate actions the level of the facilities can be increased and the road behavior of the citizens can be improved. The two kinds of problems are highly related, thus they should be confronted at the same time.

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Under these circumstances, the cyclists have a totally marginal road. The problematic road infrastructure can partially explain the complete absence of cycling infrastructure. The cyclists are forced to interact continuously with the car traffic. Thus, cycling becomes more risky, stressful and of course not competitive towards the standard modes of transport, seeing that it cannot guarantee neither safety nor speed.

PICTURE 7-3: Illegal parking that blocks the traffic

*(http://www.thkouk.gr)

PICTURE 7-4: Illegal parking that blocks the pedestrians

*(http://www.imageshack.gr)

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7.2.1.3 Previous Projects During the recent years, several scientists have proposed plans for the

establishment of network of bicycle tracks in the center of Patras. Hereby, we will briefly mention two of these plans (Vlastos et al, 2005, Gogola et al, 2008).

The first survey (Vlastos et al, 2005) was part of a general project for the

incorporation of bicycle in several Greek cities. The plan included four major axes parallel to the coastline (going through the roads Othonos Amalias, Riga Feraiou, Maizonos, Ypsilantu) and four vertical (through Aratu, Votsi, Favieru, Triwn Navarchwn). Moreover the survey determined all the additional designation that should be added on the road network, to inform about the bicycle traffic. The shape of the network is shown on the following map. The project was sponsored by the European Union and it was supported by the Ministry of Transport, but it has not yet been approved by the authorities.

FIGURE 7-5: The plan from the first survey (Vlastoset al, 2005)

*(http://www.flickr.com)

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The second plan (Gogola et al, 2008), consitutes a miniature of the first one. It keeps only two main axes in each direction, with reduced length (Riga Feraiou – Maizonos & Aratu – Votsi). The focus of the differentiation in the second plan is the reduction of the project’s cost. This reduction could make the plan more attractive, as well as more likely to be approved.

FIGURE 7-6: The plan from the second survey (Gogola et al, 2008)

7.3 Citizens’ opinion 7.3.1 Aim of the survey A crucial step for our effort is to determine the population groups that are more

likely to cycle, and focus our first movements on attracting them. Given the fact that cycling is not so popular in Patras, there are not special measurements refered to the use of bicycle, or the cycling behavior of the citizens. Thus, an investigation was implemented, aimed to detect the bicycling environment in Patras as the cyclists themselves perceive it.

7.3.2 Method and data The participants are 24 members of a cyclist association in Patras. They were

asked to complete a questionnaire about to their cycling habits, the cycling conditions in Patras and also their personal opinion about the prospects of cycling in the city (see Appendix 3). Obviously, the sample is not large enough and also it is not representative of the whole population of the city. Given this, it is not possible to be used for any statistical, or generally quantitative, analysis. The purpose of this effort is to depict the major concerns of the cyclists, as well as to observe some of their

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personal characteristics. Due to this, we will refer only to those opinions that represent all, or at least the vast majority, of the participants.

7.3.3 Results First of all, as far as it concerns the personal characteristics, 18 of the

participants are men and 6 are women, with ages that vary between 20 and 45 years, with the majority being between 20 and 30. Nevertheless, the most important observation is that ALL the participants have high education level (University education). We should remind that we observed similar results for the citizens of Copenhagen (see 6.4 – Almost 60% of the citizens that prefer bicycle have studied at the university for at least 3 years). These results reveal clearly that citizens with higher education are the population group that is more likely to change their transport habits, replacing the car and the motorbike, with the bicycle. This will be one of the main reccomendations for the proposals we will expose in later chapter (7.4).

Moreover, we should mention the reasons that lead them to cycle. Here, we

notice the absence of the economical factor. Mostly, the citizens prefer the bicycle because it is healthy, fast and environmentally friendly. Some of them state that it pleasant and only a few mention that it is also cheap. This observation is clearly connected with a tendency to avoid the convenience of the car, for more active transport habits, as most of the participants declare a preference on cycling instead of driving, for short urban trips. However, only half of them use their bicycle to commute and the othet half prefer to use it for leisure purposes (practice, entertainment, shopping). These facts display a different perception of bicycle between the citizens of Patras and Copenhagen. The comparison is not so accurate, as we have totally different samples of the two populations; however it is evident that the citizens of Patras apprehend cycling more as an entertaining activity, than a “tool” to cover their transport needs. There are two major explanations for this attitude. The lack of infrastructure that margins cycling, so that it cannot be considered as a part of the normal traffic network. Additionally, the lack of bicycle culture discourages people from considering bicycle as a normal transport mode that can ALWAYS replace the car in urban trips.

The transport conditions have already been discussed. However, it would be

useful to note how the cyclists perceive these conditions and how safe they feel. The complete absence of cycling infrastructure leads the cyclists to interact continuously with the rest of the traffic. This interaction, combined with the condition of the road surface, designate the circumstances that the cyclists have to face.

Based on the answers of the cyclists, the behavior of the drivers can be divided

in two major guidelines. Firstly, in their answers they mention the general road behavior of the drivers, which involves lack of education and absence of social consciousness. The drivers ignore basic rules that concern the traffic speed and the interaction with other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. One of the main problems mentioned is that the car drivers do not stop before the pedestrian crossings

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and that they drive faster than they should, even in narrow streets. Moreover, they tend to park illegally, without concerning on not blocking junctions or parts of the roadway. These statements are in correspondance to the traffic conditions that have already been described.

Secondly, the answers focus on the drivers’ behavior towards the cyclists. The

lack of bicycle culture leads the drivers to ignore the existence of cyclists in the road. They perceive it as an additional barrier that causes them inconvenience. Thus, they treat aggresively the cyclists, keeping short distances behind them and tooting or shouting at them. As well as, sometimes they do not pay any attention on the drivers, which causes dangerous situations for the cyclists. The most common examples are the risky overtakings that cause instability to the cyclists and the dangerous maneuvers during the parking procedure.

The condition of the road surface constitutes another big danger for the cyclists.

As they state, the deficient maintenance of the surface, and the frequent holes, force the cyclists to make dangerous and sudden movements, which are slightly risky at the narrow streets of Patras. The previously mentioned factors explain the low feeling of safety. The cyclists rate their safety with 2,5/5 (1 – totally unsafe, 5 – totally safe). The rating can be compared with the results of the table 5.2, where the mean values vary between 8,2 – 8,8/10, revealing once more the importance of infrastructure, for the imrovement of the cycling conditions.

Finally, in the last part of the questionnaires, the cyclists were asked to give

some suggestions for the upgrading of the cycling conditions. Unanimously, they demanded the construction of special facilities for cyclists. Also, they proposed several measures for the reformation of the city center, such as the pedestrianization of some roads, the planting of trees and the establishment of parking sites perimetrically to the center. Moreover, they focused on the importance of bicycle education and the resolution to implement, in order to attract more citizens to cycle.

7.4 Proposals for the development of cycling in Patras 7.4.1 Introduction The following proposals are focused on two major guidelines. Firstly, a plan for

the construction of bicycle paths in the city of Patras, because, as it is already mentioned, the most important factor for the development of cycling is the construction of appropriate facilities for the cyclists. Second, a group of measurements and actions from the authorities, directed to promote the use of bicycle.

In previous section, we observed that the higher educated people are more likely

to be attracted by the bicycle, than any other population group. Moreover, the university students constitute a considerable proportion of the whole population (almost 1/5 of the population of Patras studies at the University or at the Technological Education Institutions). Thus, this plan will include a route to connect the center of Patras with the University and a more extended network inside the University area.

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7.4.2 A plan for the improvement of cycling conditions The first part of the plan is the designing of a bicycle route to connect the city and

the university. There will be only one path for each direction, because the aim of this project is not to propose a whole network for the city of Patras. The total length of this route will be approximately 10km.

The routes for the two directions will be: • To the University: Triwn Navarchwn, Othonos Amalias (Figure 2), Hrwwn

Polytexneiou, Kanellopoulou, Patron Athinon, Panepistimiou-start (Figure 1), Patron Athinon-end, Panepistimiou-detail (Figure 3), Panepistimiou-end, University area (Figure 4).

• From the University: University area, Panepistimiou-end (Figure 4),

Panepistimiou-detail, Patron Athinon-end (Figure 3), Panepistimiou-start, Patron Athinon, Kanellopoulou, Hrwwn-Polytexneiou, Norman (Figure 1), Agiou Andreou, Triwn Navarchwn (Figure 2).

As we observe, there will be cyclists in both directions of the road, except the

part of the route that is included in (Figure 2), where the cyclists will be riding in the same directions as the cars. This means that the cyclists that are coming from the university will follow Othonos Amalias str. On the other hand, the cyclists that begin a trip to the university will start following Agiou Andreou str.

FIGURE 1: A complete overview of the route

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FIGURE 2: The part of the route where the two directions will follow different roads

FIGURE 3: Detailed plan for the connection between Patron-Athinon and Panepistimiou

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FIGURE 4: Detailed plan for the connection between Panepistimiou and the University area

Based on the appropriate restrictions (Vlastos 2000) we will check if the roads are wide enough, so that we are able to implement the bicycle tracks. The sum of the appropriate restrictions consist the minimum width for the obtainability of coexistence between bicycle and the other transport modes.

TABLE 7-7: Required width of each part of the road

Required width (m) Max speed 30km/h Max speed 50km/h Bicycle 0,75 0,75 Car 1,75 1,75 Lorry 2,6 2,6 Gap (Bicycle-Kerb) 0,25 0,25 Gap (Bicycle-Parked Car) 0,5 0,5 Gap (Bicycle-Car) 0,85 1,05 Gap (Car-Car) 0,3 0,8 Gap (Car-Kerb) 0,25 0,5

For example, in Othonos Amalias street, the speed limit is 50km/h and there is

considerable number of lorries, because of the harbor. Moreover, we want to keep two lanes for the motor vehicles, because it is an artery that serves high traffic loads. Furthermore, we will strictly forbid parking on the right side of the road, so we do not need extra gap between the cyclists and the parked cars. Given these facts the required width will be 0,75 + 1,75 + 2,6 + 0,25 + 1,05 + 0,8 + 0,5 = 7,7m. If the road serves both directions and we plan to establish bicycle tracks on both sides, then we should double the result and also add the width of the safety island if it exists. The value of the real width is approximate and represents an average value of the width of its specific road. The following table contains the calculations for the required widths along our route.

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TABLE 7-8: Comparison between required and available width for each road part

Road Part (Map) Car Lanes Speed Limit

Lorries/ Busses

Parked Cars Required Existed

Othonos Amalias (2) 2 50 YES NO 7,7 12 Agiou Andreou (2) 2 50 YES NO 7,7 8 Hrwwn Polytexneiou (1) 2 50 YES NO 10,1 11,5 Kanellopoulou (1) 4 50 YES NO 16,2 16 Patron – Athinon (3) 4 50 YES NO 18,2 18,5 Unnamed Part (3) 2 50 YES NO 7,7 9,5 Panepistimiou A (3-4) 4 50 YES NO 17,5 17 Panepistimiou B (4) 2 50 NO NO 6,85 8,5

We observe that in most of the situations there is enough space for the

implementation of the bicycle tracks. In the two roads where the need for space is not fulfilled, we will have to expand roadway. In these two situations we will not face problems, because there is adequate space on both sides of the road. The expansion can occur easily and without big increase of the cost.

7.4.3 Construction Method and regulations After the assurance that the plan fulfils the appropriate requirements, we should

determine the type of cycle path we will use, as well as the special measures we must enforce in order to ensure the safety of the cyclists and the normal operation of the traffic network. During this effort we will use examples from the observed situation of Copenhagen, as well as from the previous study of ADONIS (Nilson et al, 1998). The measures we will propose for Patras are included in the group of measures referred to cities with low density of cycling facilities and small percentage of urban trips using vulnerable modes.

The lack of cycling culture forces us to construct bicycle tracks totally separated

from the car traffic. This fact combined with the limited space that we have, reveals as optimum solution the bicycle tracks next to the roadway, but in different level, same as the pavement (see 3.1.1). Moreover, in order to restrict citizens from parking unconsciously on the bicycle tracks, we will use cones at the edging between the bicycle path and the roadway. The construction will be the same for every part.

The infrastructure is not limited to the construction of bicycle tracks. The cyclist

needs to be flexible to cycle as much as he wants. For this reason, we must also construct bicycle parking areas along the route. Based on the ADONIS proposals (Nilson et al, 1998), they should be placed on several pavements along the route, on squares and on other special locations. They shpuld provide security, safety, convenience and flexibility, thus they should be covered and at visible areas. For this specific route, we must establish at least one bicycle parking at the university area, one in each one of the stations and one in Triwn Navarchwn str. that is the most faraway point of the route. Nevertheless, the parking areas provide to the cyclists accessibility to many parts of the city and they make cycling more attractive and

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comfortable. Insufficient parking lots can cause deposit of bicycles along the footpath and decreased level of security.

Moreover, based on the example of Copenhagen, we must apply some

regulations that will help the acceptance of the bicycle in the traffic network. First of all, we will color the passages of the cyclists in the junctions; so that the drivers will always be aware of the cyclists (see 3.4.4). As well as, we must apply the “recessed stop lines” in every signalised junction, in order to avoid accidents from inattentive drivers.

Furthermore, again due to ADONIS (Nilson et al, 1998), in every intersection, we

must introduce informative signals for the drivers, that they are approach a bicycle track and they should be aware of the cyclists, as well as signals referred to the cyclists, to inform them about the route or to remind them how far they are from their destination. The existance of signs increases the attractivity and the safety of cycling. However, it is important to put signs in every junction, because missing signs may cause unwariness from the drivers and fear to the cyclists.

The most crucial change, that will also cause the most reactions, will be the

prohibition of parking along the right sides of Agiou Andreou and Othonos Amalias str. In Agiou Andreou str. it is already prohibited to park in the right side, but sometimes the rules are not so strict. After the construction of the bicycle path, there will be no more space to park on the right side. Parking next to the track will be impossible because it will disturb the rest of the traffic. The objections will be bigger along Othonos Amalias str., because there are also the train and bus station, which makes really common the frequent short term stops from several people that pick up or drop a passenger. However, this can become an additional reason to discourage the citizens from using their cars and turn their attention towards cycling.

7.4.4 Other Proposals The construction of independent cycle routes is the most important part for the

development of cycling, but there are also other factors that affect the cycling behavior very much. The bicycle culture or bicycle education. In fact, this part is more difficult, because it is more time-consuming. You cannot change the traffic attitude of persons from one day to another. It is a procedure that lasts for a long time. An interesting opinion would be that the results of the education need approximately one generation to appear. This means that if we focus now on educating the children, then they will have a better cycling, or road in general, behavior from us. The educating programs can be similar to those described for Copenhagen (see 3.2) or those proposed by ADONIS (Nilson et al, 1998). Specifically, we can refer to the program “Velo-ecole” of Brussels, that was focused on the education of the participants to drive safely and comfortably in the city. The program can attract new citizens to start cycling and it can improve the levels of traffic safety.

Finally, other movements could promote the use of bicycle to the general public.

These movements could improve the public awareness, including bicycle activities during the year (and leaflets advertising them), the establishment of an official day of bicycle and the distribution of leaflets focused on the appropriate equipment or various road safety aspects (ADONIS – Nilson et al, 1998).

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8. CONCLUSIONS

This project provides us various results and proposals that can improve the cycling conditions in the two cities. From the different analyses arised several proposals able to help the cyclists of Copenhagen. Also, the crucial importance of making a comparative study between the two cities revealed in the list of proposals for Patras. Most of the measures are based on examples taken from Copenhagen.

Specifically, as far as it concerns the situation of Copenhagen, it became clear

the influential role of the high level of infrastructure. This combined with several measures, as the bicycle parking and the connection with the public transport renders the bicycle as an alternative transport mode choice, completely competent for urban trips. Moreover, we observed the important role of education, starting from the childhood and continuing almost permanently, which creates bicycle culture and improves the road behavior. These two factors were pointed as the main reasons that bicycle attracts so big proportion of the transport share (30% of the citizens commute by bicycle).

Furthermore, based on the answers of the students, we reported an increased

feeling of safety and perception of the level of facilities compared to their hometowns. Copenhagen seems to be safer and friendlier towards the cyclists, in comparison with other cities, but it can still be improved. In contrary to this, worrying are the facts that concern the road behavior of the cyclists and mostly the use of helmet and the alcohol consumption. The young cyclists tend to ride sometimes under the influence of alcohol, which is highly dangerous. Adding also that the vast majority of them do not use a helmet, this careless behavior can become even more dangerous. These should constitute some of the major promotion targets in the near future.

A very important result that is observed all around the project is the tendency of

university students, or in general people with higher education level, to be more attracted by the bicycle.Firstly, the survey with the students shows that almost 80% of them use a bicycle. Secondly, the analysis referred to the citizens of Copenhagen shows that people that are younger, well educated and with lower income are more likely to be attracted by the bicycle. These are three major characteristics of the university students. Thirdly, all the participants of the survey in Patras had university level education. All these facts converge that the university students are the ideal population group to promote the bicycle, in places where it is not common, or to promote pioneer methods of improving the cycling conditions, in places where it is always established.

Additionally, other population groups that tend to cycle are the citizens with lower

income and the families with children. Probably some extra incentives for poor people, such as cheap service, or very cheap “city bikes” could have much higher social benefits than costs. About the parents, informative conferences or gratis first bicycle equipment for the children would be extremely efficient and beneficial.

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Finally, referring to Patras we realize again the importance of infrastructure and education, thus those are the major demands of the citizens. The plan that is exposed tries to cover some of the demand for bicycle tracks and knowing that it connects the city center with the university, it works in accordance to the observation that mentioned before, about the tendency of university students to cycle. The rest of the proposals regard the modulation of bicycle tracks, based on examples from Copenhagen (such as the “blue lanes” and the “recessed stop lines”) and also some additional measures, based on the guidelines of ADONIS (ADONIS, 1998) and again on some examples from Copenhagen.

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9. REFERENCES Allison, Paul (2001). Missing Data. Sage Publications Behrensdorff, Inge; Bernhoft, I.M., Dijkstra, Atze; Thomsen, Jytte; Thorson, Ole & Forward, Sonja. (1998). ADONIS – How to Substitute Short Car Trips by Cycling and Walking. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities Bernhoft, I.M.; Thorson, Leif; Thorson, Ole; Rothengatter, Talib & Brand, Annet (1998). ADONIS – A Qualitative Analysis of Cyclist and Pedestrian Accident Factors. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Buehler, Ralph & Pucher, John (2008). Making cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.Transport Reviews v.28,Is.4,pages 495-528, July 2008 Center for Trafik (2008). Faerdselstaellinger od andre trafikundersogelser 2003 – 2007. Kobenhavns Kommune City of Copenhagen (2006). Bicycle Account. City of Copenhagen, Technical and Environmental Administration, Traffic Department. City of Copenhagen (2002). Cycle Policy 2002-2012. City of Copenhagen, Building and Construction Administration, Roads and Parks department. City of Copenhagen (2007). Traffic Safety Plan 2007-2012. City of Copenhagen, Technical and Environmental Administration, Traffic Department. Dekoster, J. & Schollaert, U. (1999). Cycling: The Way Ahead for Towns and Cities. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities Forward, Sonja; Thomsen, Jytte; Thorson, Ole; Nilsson, P.K.; Rothengatter, Talib & Brand, Annet (1998). ADONIS – Behavioural factors affecting modal choice. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Gogola Anna, Vagiotas Panagiwtis, (2008), “Bicycle tracks network in Patras”, Scientific Workshop for Public Transportation, Sustainable Mobility and Urban Development in the Greek cities of the region. TEE of western Greece Greene, William (2003). Econometric Analysis (5th Edition). Pearson Education Inc. Hansen, Christian Overgaard & Jovicic, Goran (2001). The Orestad Traffic Passenger Demand Model. Transport and Traffic Conference in Aalborg, Denmark. Herrstedt, Lene; Kjemtrup, Kenneth; Borges, Per & Adersen, Peter (1993). An Improved Traffic Environment – A Catalogue of Ideas. Danish Road Directorate Kmenta, Jan (1986). Elements of Econometrics. Macmillan Publishing Company Krag, Thomas (2002). The Bicycle Policy of Copenhagen. Mobility and Bicycle Planning Advice, Clean Air Conference, Turin 25-26/10/2002 Marschak, J. & Block, H.D. (1960). Random Ordering and Stohastic Theories of Responses. Contributions to Probability and Statistics. Stanford University Press.

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McClintock, Hugh (2002). Planning for Cycling: Principles Practice and Solutions for Urban planners. Woodhead Publishing McFadden, Daniel (1974). Conditional Logit Analysis of Qualitative Choice Behavior. Frontiers in Economics. McFadden, Daniel & Train, Kenneth (2000). Mixed MNL Models for Discrete Response, Journal of Applied Econometrics. Ministry of Transport (1993). The Bicycle in Denmark. Ministry of Transport. Nilson, P.K.; Dijkstra, Atze; Levelt, Peter; Thomsen, Jytte; Thorson, Ole; Severen, J.V. & Laursen, J.G. (1998). ADONIS - Best practice to promote cycling and walking. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Pucher, John & Dijkstra, Lewis (2000). Making Walking and Cycling Safer: Lessons from Europe. Transportation Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 3, summer 2000. Tolley, Rodney (2003). Sustainable Transport: Planning for walking and cycling. Woodhead Publishing. Train, Kenneth (2003). Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation. Cambridge University Press. Vlastos Thanos , Birbili Tina (2000). ∆ιαµορφώσεις και πολιτικές για την ένταξη του ποδηλάτου στη Ελληνική πόλη: ∆ιερεύνηση γεωµετρικών προδιαγραφών µε βάση την ευρωπαϊκή εµπειρία. European Union, Greek Ministry of Transport Vlastos, Th., Milakis, D., Athanasopoulos, K., (2005). The Research for Cycling in Greece. Methodology of Planning, Infrastructure Standards and a Typology of Design Solutions. Proceedings of the 15th International Velo-City Conference, Dublin (Ireland) 31 May - 3 June 2005. Vuk, Goran; Hansen, CO & Nielsen, OA (2006). The Orestad Traffic Passenger Demand Model, Version 5.0. Aalborg University Wooldridge, Jeffrey (2002). Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. MIT Press WEBSITES . http://www.kk.dk http://www.bloggingcopenhagen.net www.copenhagenize.com www.stattrek.com www.wikipedia.org.

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PICTURES http://www.bikearlington.com/cImg/Copenhagen%20cycle%20track.jpg (3-2) http://www.bikegallery.com/images/blog/copenhagen-cycle-track-1.jpg (3-3) http://www.livinglightly.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/copenhagen-bike-rush-hour.jpg (3-4) http://gallery.hd.org/_exhibits/places-and-sights/_more2003/_more06/Denmark-Copenhagen-Bernstorffsgade-in-front-of-the-central-train-station-JR.jpg (3-5) http://hembrow.eu/cycling/dscf5705.jpg (3-6) http://www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/copenhagen/images/copenhagen8.jpg (3-7) http://www.trafikken.dk/wimpdoc.asp?page=document&objno=18454 (3-8) http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/Bicycle-Sign-freefoto.jpg (3-9) http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/ITS/ITS384/parking-bicycle-signs_~itf275009.jpg (3-10) http://img5.travelblog.org/Photos/8834/220757/t/1695192-Bicycle-Parking-at-N-rreport-Station-1.jpg (3-11) http://allworldcars.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/copenhagen_bike_traffic_lights.jpg (3-13) http://www.livablestreets.com/streetswiki/copenhagen/copenhagen.jpg (3-14) http://www.except.nl/consult/pedestrianizationtools/Fig%2011%20-%20Copenhagen_ped_map.jpg (3-15) http://www.pps.org/graphics/upo-pages/Copenhagen_paving_large (3-16) http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/IMG_0240_blue_paint_intersection.jpg (3-17) http://www.planetware.com/i/map/GR/patras-map.jpg (7-1) http://www.thkouk.gr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/06112008003.jpg (7-3) http://www.imageshack.gr/files/ez63yhvvm26coo2cn2nf.jpg (7-4) http://www.flickr.com/photos/7304168@N06/sets/72157600223888618/show/with/501805388/ (7-5)

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT THE USE OF BICYCLE BY THE STUDENTS OF DTU

1. Where are you from? (country and optionally hometown) 2. How long have you already been studying at DTU?

a.Less than 1month b.Between 1 and 6 months

c. Between 6 months and 2 years d. More than 2 years

3. In total, how long will you stay at DTU?

a.Less than 6 months b. Between 6 months and 2 years c. More than 2 years

4. For which distances for one trip, do you usually walk, cycle, drive a motorbike, drive a car or use public transport? (Please mark the appropriate boxes with an “X”. You may mark more that one box in each column.)

<1km 1-3km 3-5km >5km walking bicycle motorbike car public transport

5. Do you have a bicycle here? a.YES b.NO

IF (NO) GO TO QUESTION 15

6. Which are the main reasons that you use a bicycle here? (Choose no more than two)

a.cheap b.comfortable c.fast d.safe e.healthy f.environmentally friendly g.other: _______________ 7. What is the main purpose you use it for? (Choose only one) a.go to work/university b.exercise c.entertainment d.shopping e.other_____________ 8. How often do you use it?

a.never b.rarely c.sometimes d.often e.always

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9. How safe do you feel during cycling here? (rating 1-10, 1 - totally unsafe, 10 – totally safe)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10. Rate the level of the existing cycling infrastructure in Copenhagen? (1 - not existing,

10 - excellent)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. Do you wear a helmet while you cycle?

a.never b.rarely c.sometimes d.often e.always

12. Do you take care of the traffic signals? a.never b.rarely c.sometimes d.often e.always 13. Do you stop before the pedestrian crossings, if a pedestrian is waiting/crossing? a.never b.rarely c.sometimes d.often e.always 14. Do you cycle if you have consumed alcohol before?

a.never b.rarely c.sometimes d.often e.always IF YOUR HOMETOWN IS IN THE GREATER COPENHAGEN AREA YOU DO NOT NEED TO ANSWER THE REST. 15. Do you have a bicycle in your hometown? a.YES b.NO 16. In your hometown, for which distances do you usually walk, cycle, drive a motorbike,

drive a car or use public transport? (Please mark the appropriate boxes with an “X”. You may mark more that one box in each column.)

<1km 1-3km 3-5km >5km

walking bicycle

motorbike car

public transport

17. How safe do you feel during cycling there? (rating 1-10, 1 - totally unsafe, 10 – totally

safe) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 18. Rate the level of the existent cycling infrastructure there? (1 - not existing, 10 -

excellent)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE OF BICYCLE ACCOUNT 2006

Question 1 to Road User (Trafikant) Firstly, I would like to ask you, whether or not you have access to a bike?

• Yes • No

Question 2 to Road User Do you have access to a car in the daily transport?

• Yes • Yes, but only once in a while • No • Don’t know or do not want to answer (In the following I ask a couple of questions about how you transport yourself in CPH.)

Question 3 to Road User How often do you walk more than 10 minutes in Copenhagen? (within last 14 days)

• Nearly every day • A couple of times every week • Once a week • Less than that • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 4 to Road User How often do you use the Public Transport in Copenhagen? (within last 14 days)

• Nearly every day • A couple of times every week • Once a week • Less than that • Don’t know or do not want to answer

(CONDITION: You have access to a car) Question 5 to Road User How often do you use the car to transport in Copenhagen? (within last 14 days)

• Nearly every day • A couple of times every week • Once a week • Less than that • Don’t know or do not want to answer

(CONDITION: You have access to a bicycle)

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Question 6 to Road User How often do you cycle in Copenhagen? (within last 14 days)

• Nearly every day • A couple of times every week • Once a week • Less than that • Don’t know or do not want to answer

(CONDITION: You cycle less than once every week) Question 61 to Road User What could make you cycle more often?

• More cycle paths • Better cycle paths • Better traffic culture / behavior • Better maintenance • Less cars in Copenhagen • Connections across the harbor, bridges etc. • Better bicycle parking • Better intersections with light signals • Other things____________ • Nothing • Don’t know or do not want to answer

(CONDITION: If access to both car and bicycle) Question 62 to Road User How often do you combine bicycle with car in Copenhagen?

• Nearly every day • A couple of times every week • Once a week • Less than that • Don’t know or do not want to answer

(CONDITION: If access to a bicycle and use of public transport) Question 63 to Road User How often do you combine cycling and public transport in Copenhagen?

• Nearly every day • A couple of times every week • Once a week • Less than that • Don’t know or do not want to answer

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Question 64 to Road User Now I read some combinations of cycling and public transport and I would like to know which of these combinations you use:

• S-Train and park my bicycle at the station • S-Train and bring my bicycle with me • Regional Train and park my bicycle at the station • Regional Train and bring my bicycle with me • Metro and park my bicycle at the station • Metro and bring my bicycle with me • Bus and park my bicycle at the bus stop. • None of them • Don’t know

Question 7 to Road User In the following I would like to know what type of transport mode do you use the most when you are going on a longer trip in Copenhagen (trips of 5 minutes or more)?

• Bicycle • Car • Public Transport • I don’t know

Question 71 to Road User Within the last 2 years have you had a bicycle stolen?

• Yes • No

Question 73 to Road User Have you given up a bicycle within last two years?

• Yes (If yes, how?) • No How?

• Put it out at garbage • Recycling station • Left it on the street • Gave it away or sold • Another way of throwing it away • Don’t know

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Question 72 to Road User Besides the normal cycle paths along the roads, the municipality has some green cycle tracks Do you know these or have you heard about these?

• Yes • No

• If you cycle at least once a week or you have the bike as the preferred mode of transport then you are a CYCLIST

• If you have the car as preferred and you cycle less than once a week then you are a CAR DRIVER

• If you have the public transport as preferred and you cycle less than once a week then you are a USER of PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Question 1 to Car Driver In the following I will mention some statements. I would like to know which one fits the best to your experience as a driver. Here comes the first one, which is about to what extent you feel bothered by cyclists

• I feel often bothered by cyclists • I feel sometime bothered by cyclists • I feel rarely bothered by cyclists • I feel never bothered by cyclists • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 2 to Car Driver The next thing concerns whether the cyclists are behaving according to the traffic rules?

• Cyclists rarely behave according to the traffic rules • Cyclists sometimes behave according to the traffic rules • Cyclists almost always behave according to the traffic rules • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 3 to Car Driver The next one is about cyclists and dangerous situations.

• Cyclists are often causing dangerous situations in traffic • Cyclists are sometimes causing dangerous situations in traffic • Cyclists are very seldom causing dangerous situations in traffic • Cyclists are never causing dangerous situations in traffic • Don’t know or do not want to answer

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Question 4 to Car Driver As a car driver what could make you cycle more?

• More cycle paths • Better cycle paths • Better traffic culture / behavior • Better maintenance • Less cars in Copenhagen • Connections across harbor, bridges etc. • Better bicycle parking • Better intersections with light signals • Other things: • Nothing • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 1 to User of Public Transport In the following I will mention some statements. I would like to know which one fits the best to your experience in traffic. Here comes the first one, which is about to what extent you feel bothered by cyclists

• I feel often bothered by cyclists • I feel sometime bothered by cyclists • I feel rarely bothered by cyclists • I feel never bothered by cyclists • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 2 to User of Public Transport The next thing concerns whether the cyclists are behaving according to the traffic rules?

• Cyclists seldom behave according to the traffic rules • Cyclists sometimes behave according to the traffic rules • Cyclists almost always behave according to the traffic rules • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 3 to User of Public Transport The next one is about cyclists and dangerous situations.

• Cyclists are often causing dangerous situations in traffic • Cyclists are sometimes causing dangerous situations in traffic • Cyclists are very seldom causing dangerous situations in traffic • Cyclists are never causing dangerous situations in traffic • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 4 to User of Public Transport As a User of Public Transport, what could make you cycle more?

• More cycle paths • Better cycle paths • Better traffic culture / behavior • Better maintenance

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• Less cars in Copenhagen • Connections via harbor, bridges and more • Better bicycle parking • Better lighted intersections • Other things: • Nothing • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 1 to Cyclist In the following, I will ask some questions about your cycling habits How many kilometers do you cycle to and from workplace in a week, approximately?

• I don’t cycle in relation to work • Note approx. km ______ • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 2 to Cyclist In total, how many km do you cycle approx. during the week related to other errands than work? (e.g. picking up the kids, doing groceries, school, education, visits)

• I don’t cycle in relation to this • Note approx. km_______ • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 3 to Cyclist Besides transport to work and the just mentioned other errands, then how long do you cycle every week for leisure and exercise?

• I don’t cycle for recreation • Note approx. km______ • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 4 to cyclist If you don’t cycle every day, what are the most important reasons for this? (note down in order that the answers are given)

• Too bad weather • Slippery roads and snow • Other errands along the road • Have the possibility for other transport mode • Changing working hours or days • Too big distances • Laziness • Have no daily needs for transportation • Not feeling safe • Delivering or Picking up the kids • Insecure about going out at night • Other things: ____________ • Don’t know or do not want to answer •

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Question 5 to Cyclist What are the main reasons you are cycling for? (Note down in order that the answers are given)

• Economy • Fastest • Easiest • Comfortable • Exercise • Good for Environment • My partner uses the car • Need to deliver or pick up the kid • Public transportation is not appropriate for me • Other things : • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 6 to Cyclist How is it to cycle in Copenhagen? (Read)

• Very Good • Good • OK – Adequate • Bad • Very Bad • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 8 to Cyclist Have you tried cycling in big cities abroad?

• Yes • No

(CONDITION: Asked if you had tried cycling in big cities abroad) Question 9 to Cyclist Do you think that the traffical conditions related to Copenhagen are much better, better, either better or worse, worse or much worse than the foreign cities that you know of?

• Much better • Better • The same • Worse • Much worse • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 10 to Cyclist In Copenhagen there is a number of city bikes placed in different places of the city. Do you know about these city bikes?

• Yes • No

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Ask to everyone that knows Question 11 to Cyclist Have you ever tried a city bike?

• Yes • No

Ask to everyone that has tried a city bike Question 12 to Cyclist What do you think about the city bike?

• Very good • Good • OK – Adequate • Bad • Very bad

Ask to everyone that thinks that the city bike is bad or very bad Question 13 to Cyclist Why do you think that city bike is bad?

• Note the answer • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 14 to Cyclist Is there something particularily bothering you when cycling in Copenhagen?

• Too many pedestrians • Too many cars • Too many bikes • Bad behavior from other road users • Bumpy cycle paths • Bumpy roads • Missing cycle paths • Too narrow cycle paths • Dangerous intersections • Stop and troubles • Air Pollution • Problems related to transport of baggage, child or other • Feel is too dangerous to cycle • Noise • Other • No, not bothered by anything • Don’t know or do not want to answer

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Question 15 to Cyclist Do you feel safe when cycling in Copenhagen

• Yes • Somehow • No

Ask if answer somehow or no Question 16 to Cyclist What makes you unsafe?

• Cars • Other cyclists • Busses • The conditions in intersections • Bumpy Pavement • Lack of taking away the snow • Other:____________ • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 161 to Cyclist What could make you safer as a cyclist in Copenhagen?

• More cycle paths • Wider cycle paths • Better maintenance • More cyclist friendly lighted intersections • More cyclist friendly small intersections • Other___________ • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 17 to Cyclist To what extend you feel bothered by air pollution when cycling in Copenhagen?

• Very much • To some extend • Very little • Not bothered by air pollution • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 18 to Cyclist How satisfied are you with the following conditions?

Amount of Cycle Paths • Very Satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

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Question 19 to Cyclist Width of Cycle Paths

• Very satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 20 to Cyclist

Maintenace of Cycle Paths • Very satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 21 to Cyclist

Maintenance of the roads where there are no cycle paths • Very satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 22 to Cyclist

Possibilities of parking your bike in the city, in general • Very satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 221 to Cyclist How satisfied are you with the

Possibilities of bicycle parking at your working place? • Very Satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

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Question 23 to Cyclist

Possibilities of parking close to stations • Very satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 231 to Cyclist Would you use a free bike parking-house at the central station or Norreport , even though it meant that you would have to walk a little longer?

• Yes • No • I don’t know

Question 24 How satisfied are you with the

Possibilities to combine bicycle and public transport • Very satisfied • Satisfied • Either satisfied or unsatisfied • Unsatisfied • Very unsatisfied • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 25 Can you mention one thing and one place in Copenhagen where the conditions for the cyclists could be improved?

• Yes, which_____________ • No • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 26 to Cyclist Other things that could make you cycle more

• More cycle paths • Better cycle paths • Better traffic culture • Better maintenance and cleaning • Less cars in Copenhagen • Better cycle parking • Better intersections with light signals • Note other________ • No, nothing • I don’t know

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Question 31 to Cyclist How likely is it that you will start cycling or cycle even more if such improvements are done?

• Very likely • Likely • Not likely • Don’t know

Question 32 to Cyclist Within last 2 years, have you as a cyclist been involved in a traffic accident in Copenhagen where you got injured?

• Yes • No • I don’t remember

Question 33 to Cyclist Do you use a helmet?

• Yes • No • I don’t know

Question 34 to Cyclist From your opinion how easy is to get through traffic as a cyclist in Copenhagen?

• Very easy • Easy • Either easy or difficult • Hard • Very hard • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 90 In the end, I would like to ask some more common questions. How many children under 16 are there in the household?

• No children • Note number_____ • Not answer

(Ask to families with kids) Question 35 How old are the children?

• Child 1_____ • Child 2_____ • Child 3_____ • Child 4_____ • Child 5_____ • Not answer

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Question 36 Do any of the children cycle to school?

• Yes • No • No children in school

Question 37 How old are the children normally when they are first allowed to cycle to school alone?

• None of them cycle alone • Note Age_____ • Are companioned due to safety reasons • Don’t know

Question 38 Are the children using helemt?

• Yes, all of them • Yes, some of them • No • I don’t know

Question 91 What is your job?

• Unskilled worker • Skilled worker • Public servant • Independent • Student/in school/trainee • Retired • Out of job at the moment • Other • Do not want to answer

Question 92 What is your education?

• Primary school • High school education • Technicla high school • Vocational education • Short university education (2 years) • Middle university education (3 years) • Long university education (5 years or more) • Do not want to answer

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Question 93 How big was the total household income before tax in 2005>

• Under 50.000 kr • 50 – 100.000 kr • 100 – 200.000 kr • 200 – 300.000 kr • 300 – 400.000 kr • 400 – 500.000 kr • 500 – 600.000 kr • Over 600.000 kr • Don’t know or do not want to answer

Question 94 What is your age?

• Note age_______ • Do not want to answer

Question 99 What is your gender?

• Male • Female

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APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT THE USE OF BICYCLE IN PATRAS First of all, we would like to know some personal characteristics of you, such as:

• Age _____________________ • Gender _____________________ • Occupation _____________________ • Level of Education _____________________

Afterwards, some questions related to the modes of transport that you use and mostly the use of bicycle:

• Sort the following modes, putting first the one you prefer more for your urban trips shorter than 2 kilometers. Walking, bicycle, motorbike, car, taxi, bus

• In the same way, rank the same transport modes for urban trips longer than 2 kilometers.

• How often do you use the bicycle for your urban transportation: 1. Every day 2. Almost every day 3. 1 – 2 times per week 4. 1 – 2 times per month 5. Less than this

• If you answer 1, 2, or 3: Since when you have started using it with so frequently?

• Which are the main reasons you use the bicycle for? Sort the following possibilities starting from the one you prefer more.

1. Cheap 2. Comfortable 3. Fast 4. Safe 5. Healthy 6. Environmentally friendly 7. Other: ______________________

• Which are the main purposes that you use the bicycle for? Sort the following

possibilities, starting from the one that you prefer more. 1. Go to workplace / University 2. Exercise 3. Entertainment 4. Shopping and other external jobs 5. Other: _________________________

Moreover, we would like to know the conditions that face the cyclists in Patras.

• What is your opinion about the traffic conditions for the cyclists in Patras? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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• What is your opinion about the behavior of the drivers towards cyclists? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• How safe do you feel while cycling in Patras?

(1 – Totally unsafe, 5 – Totally safe) 1 2 3 4 5

• What provokes you more insecurity while cycling in Patras? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • What bothers you more while cycling in Patras? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Finally, we would like your opinion about some movements that could improve the cycling conditions and also could attract more citizens to turn towards more vulnerable transportation modes. • In your opinion, which movements could improve the cycling conditions in Patras?

(Ideas and Proposals) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • Which movements, you believe, that could attract more citizens to use the bike for

their urban trips? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you very much for your time

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