Cycling is environmentally friendly, cheap, beneficial to health and requires relatively little space. Because of all these advantages, many governments are attempting to encourage cycling in general and bicycle commutingin particular. Although many factors have been found to influence bicyclecommuting, little attention has been paid to the effect of the specifically work-related factors. This paper aims to investigate which work-relatedfactorsû such as working hours, the type of clothing worn and the opinions of colleaguesû affect whether a worker is a part-time, full-time or non-cyclist. An internet survey was conducted in the Netherlands. By estimating a multinomial logit model, several factors were found to increase the probability of being a full-time or part-time cyclist. The likelihood of being a full-time cyclist is greater if a bicycle is needed during working hours, if colleagues expect one to commute by bicycle, and if a worker has apermanent or temporary contract rather than being temporary personnel from another company. The likelihood of being a full-time cyclist is smaller if the worker needs to transport heavy or bulky objects and if a car is available for commuting. The probability of being a part-time cyclist is greater if the worker needs a bicycle while at work or does not always have acar available for commuting. The probability is smaller if they always need to transport objects to work and if a private or leased car is needed during working hours. The results can be used to stimulate bicycle commuting more effectively.
Abstract