User group questions were designed to control for differences in cyclists’ demographics and riding preferences. The user questions were asked through the screens presented in Error!
Reference source not found.. The user questions utilized in the final version of the application,
released in March 2015, are outlined below. The questions are broken up into two groups: (1) questions about riders’ demographics and (2) questions about a riders’ biking attitude and cyclist type. All user group questions are optional.
An important criterion when designing user questions was to limit the number of user questions as much as possible (seven) to reduce user burden. Pilot testing feedback indicated user uneasiness and a reduction in the response rate when the number of questions exceeded seven.
Table 5.1: User Screens (iOS version)
Screen # 1 2 3
iOS
5.2.1 Demographic Information
Demographic indicators are often significant covariates with cycling travel behavior (see literature review). The demographic data collected by ORcycle includes age, ethnicity, gender, household income, occupation, number of household workers, and number of household vehicles.
Age was considered in all of the previous CycleTracks-derived smartphone applications and is included in most travel surveys. Cyclists and smartphone users are both generally on the younger end of the age spectrum; it is important to control for this factor when making inferences from the application data. The age group stratification used in ORcycle is outlined in Table 5.2. .
Table 5.2: Age Group Responses Age Category No data Less than 18 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Ethnicity was another major demographic variable to control for and was considered in several of the cycling apps. Cyclists are generally less diverse than the population at large (Pucher et al. 2011; Pucher et al. 2010; Dill and Voros 2007). The ethnicity selection categories used in ORcycle are outlined in Table 5.3.
Table 5.3: Ethnicity group responses Ethnicity Category No data African American Asian American Hispanic Native American White American Other
Bicycling mode share differs considerably by gender, with more males cycling than females on average at this time. The proposed categorization schema for gender selection is outlined in Table 5.4.
Table 5.4: Gender group responses Gender Category
No data Female Male Other
Middle to high income groups tend to be more likely to commute by bicycle within the U.S. (Pucher et al. 2011). The income category selection is different from previous applications because it was designed to match the Oregon Household Activity Survey (OHAS) categories. The proposed categorization schema for income range selection is listed in Table 5.5.
Table 5.5: Income group responses Income Category No data Less than $14,999 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 or more
Occupation may influence route choice and this variable is useful to group cyclists into different groups. The available choices for this question are outlined in Table 5.6.
Table 5.6: Occupation responses Occupation Category No data Employed Student Retired Homemaker Other
Household size is a typical question in household travel surveys because it is an important predictor of household trips. Instead of assessing household size, it was decided in conjunction with the ODOT TAC, that asking for the number of household workers and the number of household vehicles would be more pertinent. With ORcycle it is possible to calculate a
vehicle/worker ratio per household to estimate accessibility to private motorized vehicles. The proposed categorization schema for household workers is listed in Table 5.7; the proposed categorization schema for number of household vehicles is listed in Table 5.8.
Table 5.7: Household workers responses Household Workers Category
No data 0 Workers
1 Worker 2 Workers 3 Workers or more
Table 5.8: Household vehicles responses Household Vehicles Category
No data 0 vehicles 1 vehicle 2 vehicles 3 vehicles or more
5.2.2 Cyclist Typology
Six questions are asked to evaluate the “type” of cyclist using the application. The number of bicycles the rider owns may indicate a cyclist’s proclivity towards bicycling. The available choices for this question are given in Table 5.9.
Table 5.9: Number of bicycles owned Income Category No data 0 bicycles 1 bicycle 2 bicycles 3 bicycles 4 or more bicycles
Knowing a user’s bicycle type(s) may reveal information about relationships between facility preferences, route choices, and user characteristics. This question was asked as the following: “What types of bicycles do you own?” (can select more than one) and the available responses are listed in Table 5.10.
Table 5.10: Bicycle Type (select multiple) Bicycle Type Response
No data
Commuter (with gears) Commuter (single speed)
Racing or road Cycle Cross or mountain
Cargo Bike Recumbent
Other
A cyclist’s self-reported general comfort/ability level with riding a bicycle can reveal a baseline level of comfort which must be taken into account when analyzing comfort/stress level on specific routes and facilities. A Likert-type scale was used and the question was asked as the
following: “How would you rate your overall skill and experience level regarding cycling?” and the available responses for this question are outlined in Table 5.11.
Table 5.11: Cycling Ability
General Cycling Comfort Category
No data Very Low Low Average High Very High
Cycling prominence as a mode of transportation is asked indirectly through the following question: “I cycle mostly … ” and the available responses for this question are outlined in Table 5.12.
Table 5.12: Cycling Prominence Cycling Prominence
No data
For nearly all my trips To and from work For recreation and/or exercise For shopping, errands, or visiting friends
Mainly to and from work, but occasionally for exercise, shopping, etc.
Other
Tolerance for adverse weather is useful to group cyclists in Oregon. This question is asked as the following: “What type of weather do you ride in?” and the available responses for this item are outlined in Table 5.13.
Table 5.13: Weather Tolerance Weather Tolerance
no data
In any kind of weather When it does not rain Usually warm and dry weather Only with warm and dry weather
Cycling frequency impacts facility preferences and route choice (Teschke and Winters 2013). The cycling frequency question is asked as the following: “How often do you cycle?” The available responses for this question are given in Table 5.14.
Table 5.14: Cycling Frequency Cycling Frequency Category
no data A few times per year A few times per month
A few times per week Nearly every day