Identifying and Assessing Perceived Cycling Safety Components
Author:
Duren Michelle1ORCID, Corrigan Bryce2, Kennedy Ryan David1, Pollack Porter Keshia M.1, Ehsani Johnathon1
Affiliation:
1. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA 2. Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Abstract
Perceived safety is recognized throughout the mode choice literature as a key barrier to cycling, yet its constructs are poorly understood. Although commonly understood to relate to crash and injury risk and sometimes vulnerability to crime, health impact assessments identify numerous other pathways through which cycling can negatively impact health. This study leverages a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults in 2022 to assess a set of eleven factors as potential components of perceived cycling safety. We use principal component analysis to identify components of perceived cycling safety and then employ principal component regression to assess these components in relation to predicting unsafe cycling perception. We identify five key dimensions of perceived safety. Specifically, we found that perceived bicycling safety can be encompassed in the following components: (1) contaminant exposure, (2) injurious collision risk, (3) street conditions, (4) weather conditions, and (5) crime risk. In evaluating each identified component, we found that injurious collision risk and street conditions were the most predictive of considering cycling as unsafe. We further develop an understanding of how differences in cycling behavior, such as using cycling for commuting purposes, may contribute to differences in how cycling safety components coalesce into perceived safety.
Funder
enter for Advancing Research on Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health, a US Department of Transportation University Transportation Center U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to the Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Safety Research,Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
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