Tags:Active Transportation, Cycling infrastructure and Equity
Abstract:
Who has spatial access to supportive infrastructure is an important equity question: lack of access to safe infrastructure for cycling may limit who has an option to use a bicycle to meet their transportation needs as well as who may achieve the physical and mental health benefits possible through physical activity. We used a national dataset of cycling infrastructure (Can-BICS), which summarizes the quantity of cycling infrastructure for all dissemination areas in Canada, to measure spatial access to cycling infrastructure in Canadian cities, and to provide a national understanding of inequitable access to cycling infrastructure for equity-deserving populations (children, seniors, recent immigrants, visible minorities, and people with low incomes). In unadjusted associations, recent immigrants and people with low incomes had better access to cycling infrastructure. After adjusting for covariates, access to cycling infrastructure was higher in areas with more seniors, more recent immigrants, more visible minorities, and more people with low incomes, but lower in areas with more children. More importantly, there are still a substantial number of people from equity-deserving living in areas with very low levels of cycling infrastructure. This methodology represents a useful tool for information transport policy initiatives to advance bicycle equity at a national scale.
Who Has Access to Cycling Infrastructure in Canada? a Social Equity Analysis