Uniquely Satisfied: Exploring Cyclist Trip Satisfac1 tion

摘要

Despite increasing interest and focus on cycling planning and infrastructure, many researchand policy frameworks overlook two important aspects of cycling: motivations and tripsatisfaction. While many studies have found that cyclists are more satisfied with theircommute than other mode users, few have explored why. We hypothesize that different typesof cyclists—defined by their reasons for cycling and seasonal mode patterns—will derivedifferent levels of satisfaction from cycling. Therefore, this study attempts to 1) examine theeffect of built environment characteristics (e.g. intersection density, land use), tripcharacteristics (e.g. distance and slope) and season on cycling trip satisfaction, 2) grouprespondents into 'cyclist types' based on a cluster analysis of motivations for cycling and theiralternate (winter) mode, and 3) understand how these personal characteristics moderate therelationship between built environment and trip characteristics and expressed tripsatisfaction. This is accomplished using a university-wide travel survey administered inwinter 2011, in which commutes to McGill University were asked to report their last trip toMcGill. If the person uses a different mode during the fall he was asked to report it as well.Individuals were also asked to report their level of satisfaction with these trips. Surprisingly,the expected relationship between distance, slope and objectively measured elements of thebuilt environment and trip satisfaction was not found. Similar to previous research, cyclistsare found to be more satisfied with their commute than other mode users. Year-round cyclistsare less satisfied with their travel than those who only cycle in good weather; while "CyclingEnthusiasts" are significantly more satisfied than most cyclists motivated by convenience.This work emphasizes the need to look beyond the built environment and trip characteristicsto better understand cyclist trip satisfaction.