Bikes! Camera! Action?: Exploring the Everyday Behaviours of Urban Cycling to Inform Lessons for Infrastructure Planners

Abstract

This paper uses a video-based methodology to explore everyday cycling practices in a city that is not well-known for its cycling provision – namely Liverpool, UK.  By looking at the way everyday commuter cyclists travel through the city we explore the ways in which they use the spaces provided, what they prioritise and, through video testimony, why.  Using Practice Theory to inform our analysis, we suggest that material infrastructure (e.g., clear and consistent signage) and the competences of confidence and understanding are instrumental to the meanings cyclists ascribe to places.  In turn, this can be a limiting factor in how cyclists travel through those spaces.  This is most evident at the end of journeys, as cyclists transition from roads to shared spaces and pedestrianised areas, and can result in some routes which become ‘available’ to some cyclists, but not others.  The paper makes recommendations for transport planners to consider when providing infrastructure for cycling in similar urban contexts.