Travel behaviour change impacts of a major ride to work day event

doi:10.1016/j.tra.2006.10.001

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

Volume 41, Issue 4, May 2007, Pages 351-364

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2006.10.001 Get rights and content

Abstract

While there is increasing interest in the field of travel behaviour change, relatively little attention has been given to the behaviour change potential of major events. ‘Ride to Work Day’ is an annual event which attracts thousands of participants and actively promotes riding to and from work throughout Victoria in Australia. The methodology used to assess the impact of the event on travel behaviour has evolved from a monthly panel survey of event participants to a single follow-up survey five months after the event which focuses on travel behaviour and measurement of the stage of engagement in the behaviour change process. About one in five of those participating in the event are riding to work for the first time. More than one in four (27%) of those who rode to work for the first time as part of the event were still riding to work five months after the event. Over 80% of first-timers indicated that the event had a positive impact on their readiness to ride to work with 57% indicating that it influenced their decision to ride. The event was found to have a greater impact on influencing behaviour change for female than male riders.

Introduction

Travel behaviour change programs are an emerging category of Mobility Management initiative which are “designed to enable individuals to become more aware of their travel options and where possible exercise choices which reduce use of the private motor vehicle’ (Rose and Ampt, 2003). More than simply trying to raise awareness, these programs seek to deliver sustainable change in individual’s travel behaviour.

Consistent with mobility management initiatives underway in a number of Australian states, the Victorian Department of Infrastructure (DOI) has initiated a TravelSMART Program (DOI, 2004) which aims to:

“To reduce the negative impacts of car travel through a reduction in vehicle trips and kilometres travelled, achieved through voluntary changes by individuals, households and organisations towards more sustainable travel choices”.

Importantly, the Victorian TravelSMART Program does not rely on or require the provision of additional transport or other infrastructure, or improvements in the level of service of public transport services. Rather, the Program facilitates change within the existing urban transport and land-use systems. There are three components to the TravelSmart program:

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TravelSmart Education: Planning school travel to help families get to school in a healthy and sustainable way as well as developing programs for sustainable travel to tertiary institutions.
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TravelSmart Communities: Assisting individual households choose the best travel options for them.
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TravelSmart Workplaces: Helping Victorian employers reduce the impact of their work-related travel.

The project described here fits within the TravelSmart Workplaces component and is specifically designed to encourage more people to ride a bicycle to work. The aim is to maximise the travel behaviour change impacts of a Ride to Work day event and embed those behaviours into habits. Ride to Work Day (RTWD) is an annual event run by Bicycle Victoria (Australia’s largest cycling membership organisation), which actively promotes riding to and from work, informs participants about the existing cycling infrastructure that is available to them and informs workplaces about making their workplace more ‘cycling friendly’. While the event is generally promoted by Bicycle Victoria, a key component of recruitment for the event takes place within workplaces. Bicycle Victoria recruits volunteer workplace coordinators who receive assistance to encourage other individuals within their workplace to participate in the event. Those workplace organisers receive:

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An information sheet setting out a schedule of actions, in the form of a step by step guide, to assist them in promoting the event within their workplace.
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Scripted emails for distribution over the lead up to the event.
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Posters and postcards to publicise the event.
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A comprehensive information booklet titled “Everything you wanted to know about riding to work – but were afraid to ask” designed to assist them in responding to questions or concerns, and
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A map of Melbourne bicycle facilities.

Individual intending to participate in the event are encouraged to register with Bicycle Victoria. Registration is required for eligibility for both individual and workplace prizes as well as to provide an indication of the level of support which the event attracts.

The highlight of the event is the RTWD free breakfast held in the Melbourne CBD which attracts over 2500 riders each year and receives radio, print and television coverage. The RTWD event is held early in October when weather conditions usually provide over 12 h of sunlight per day (sunrise about 6 AM, sunset about 6:30 PM), little rain and temperatures ranging from a low in the mid teens to a high in the low to mid twenties. The October timing of the event coincides with the start of the summer riding season and is regarded as an ideal time to promote cycling to work.

This paper focuses on an evaluation which has been undertaken to provide insight into the behaviour change impacts of the RTWD event. The paper begins by examining the nature of event-based behaviour change and introduces the model which is used to characterise the behaviour change produced by the RTWD event. Evaluation results reported in the literature are considered not only to provide relevant benchmarks for this study and also to highlight the need for a robust evaluation methodology. The evolution of the evaluation methodology employed in this study is then described. Results from a follow-up survey of participants in the 2004 RTWD event are then used to provide insight into the magnitude of the travel behaviour change, the value placed on different features of the event and the remaining impediments to increasing the frequency of riding to work. The final section of the paper presents the conclusions and highlights directions for future research.

Section snippets

Ride to work day as an event-based travel behaviour change opportunity

In the transport context there are a variety of events such as commuter challenges, smog alerts, rideshare weeks, bike2work days and CarFree days, which have the potential to produce travel behaviour change (Rose, 2003). It is appropriate to draw a distinction between date-fixed and date-flexible events. Ride to work events are a classic example of an event where the date of the event is fixed, usually well in advance. Smog Alert days typify date-flexible events where strategies and initiatives

Developing and evolving the evaluation methodology

The overall objective of the evaluation was to provide insight into the impacts of the event on participants’ travel behaviour. It was recognised that the impacts may vary over time and potentially decline in the weeks or months after the event. Considerable effort was directed at developing and refining a cost effective evaluation methodology to provide insight into the travel behaviour impacts of the event. Table 1 summarises the key features of the evaluation survey as it evolved while the

Travel behaviour change impacts of the 2004 RTWD event

The 2004 RTWD event was conducted on the 6th of October 2004. The follow up survey of individuals who registered for the event was distributed by email on Friday 11 March 2005 (five months after the event). This section summarises the results from the survey. First the travel behaviour change impacts are examined, then attention is turned to the impact of the event in progressing participants along the behaviour change continuum as per the Prochaka and DiClemente (1983) model. Consideration is

Conclusions

Event-based behaviour change represents a relatively new frontier in travel behaviour change research. This paper has reported an examination of the travel behaviour change impacts reported by participants in the 2004 Ride to Work Day event held in Victoria, Australia. While the event attracts many people who have previously ridden to work, it is also important in stimulating travel behaviour change. Approximately one in four of those riding to work for the first time on Ride to Work Day 2004

Acknowledgements

The research reported in this paper has been funded by the Australian Greenhouse Office in conjunction with the Victorian Department of Infrastructure. The paper represents the views of the authors rather than the funding organisations The input provided by Phil Harbutt and David Meiklejohn, from the Department of Infrastructure, and Sabina Wills, from Sasafras Solutions, is acknowledged and greatly appreciated.

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View full text

Travel behaviour change impacts of a major ride to work day event

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Ride to work day as an event-based travel behaviour change opportunity

Developing and evolving the evaluation methodology

Travel behaviour change impacts of the 2004 RTWD event

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Transportation Research, Part D

Computer-aided Multivariate Analysis

Delivering Changes in Travel Behaviour: Lessons From Health Promotion

Healthy Revolutions: promotion of cycling among women

Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

On year bike for a healthy commute

Cycling promotion in western australia

Health Promotion Journal of Australia

Applied Logistic Regression