Measuring the wind through your hair? Unravelling the positive utility of bicycle travel. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Krizek, Kevin J.
• Is Part Of: Research in transportation business & management. Volume 29(2018)
• Page Start: 71
• Page End: 76
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Transportation -- Research -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Management -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Management; Transportation -- Research; Periodicals; 388.068
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rtbm.2019.01.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2210-5395

Abstract

Abstract: The intrinsic qualities of bicycling in urban areas are oft-asserted and difficult to measure. These benefits may therefore be undervalued. Considering the majority of research of bicycling in cities has captured functional characteristics (e.g., travel time, cost, health), less is known of how bicycling provides intrinsic benefits (e.g., the feeling of wind in one's hair, social cohesion, stress relief) and how such benefits could be incorporated into travel analysis. I argue how and why access to a destination by bicycling can be more valuable than access to destinations by other modes—largely owing to intrinsic qualities—and point to opportunities and challenges for measurement. Drawing from the idea that travel often times has a positive utility, coupled with the emerging research base that points to how bicycling advances emotional well-being, I extend a framework based on measuring access to destinations and point to future challenges and opportunities in doing so.