This study aims to evaluate equity in cycling initiatives and their operational challenges by reviewing a wide range of cycling initiatives implemented in Auckland, New Zealand. The effectiveness of current initiatives with respect to various target groups or resulting beneficiaries is discussed, along with potential additional initiatives, barriers to implementing cycling equity initiatives in practice, and possible solutions to address such barriers. By interviewing policymakers, decision-makers, planners, designers, and transportation professionals, 44 cycling initiatives are identified. Results suggest that the geographical distribution of some of the current initiatives implemented could be more equitable. While some initiatives are equitable, there remain challenges with respect to their implementation. Additionally, there are limited initiatives focusing on the safety of female cyclists in Auckland, and no initiatives specifically aimed at Māori and Pacific people, groups that can both be considered disadvantaged with respect to cycling in Auckland. Potential additional policy initiatives include e-bike/bicycle subsidies, policy and law changes, education and awareness campaigns, better urban planning, policies aimed at making cycling easier, and better monitoring and evaluation. Barriers to the implementation of cycling equity initiatives in practice include sociocultural issues, financial constraints, poor planning, human resource limitations, and the built environment. Suggested strategies to help overcome some of these issues include adopting an equity lens and providing equity assessments for all initiatives, thus providing a wider coverage with respect to diversity in the population, enhanced engagement with the community, and the empowerment of people.

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This study explores the effectiveness of cycling initiatives in encouraging bicycle usage, and the relationship with sociodemographic characteristics amongst residents of the multi-cultural city of Auckland, New Zealand. The study considered regular cyclists, potential cyclists, as well as non-cyclists across demographic groups, including age, gender, income level, educational level, ethnicity, and bicycle user type to provide a holistic understanding of the association between the perceived effectiveness of cycling initiatives in encouraging bicycle usage. The results indicate that safety initiatives, including lighting improvements and vehicle safety features are perceived as being the most effective amongst all of the cycling initiatives proposed, and that younger people, Māori and Pacific people, and regular cyclists perceive higher levels of effectiveness in response to many of the cycling initiatives implemented. Moreover, findings indicate that many of the cycling initiatives are seen as more effective by some specific demographic groups who were not necessarily the intended target groups for the initiative, as envisaged by the experts tasked with their development and implementation. Also, for some demographic groups such as the elderly, women and non-cyclists, the perceived effectiveness of current cycling initiatives was found to be lower than was the case for the population as a whole, suggesting that the current cycling initiatives are not sufficiently focussed on these cycling disadvantaged groups, as they should to be in the interest of equity. This study aids in the design of better strategies by providing insights for policymakers and local governments to provide more equitable outcomes with respect to cycling.@en

Ensuring equity is considered in all types of decision making, including with respect to cycling provision, is important. Studies have investigated equity in relation to provision of cycling infrastructure and facilities. However, identifying other factors that need consideration in cycling equity is important. This study explored the impact of cycling infrastructure provision on individual perceptions of cycling infrastructure in relation to sociodemographic characteristics in Auckland, New Zealand. The results indicated that bicycle lane availability did not significantly influence perceptions of cycling infrastructure; however, ethnicity and whether a person was a regular cyclist did. Among noncyclists and potential cyclists, ethnicity was the only factor found to significantly influence perceptions of cycling infrastructure. Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and Pacific Islanders rated the provision of cycling infrastructure higher than others for the same level of bicycle infrastructure in their community. Whereas Maori had the highest percentage of potential cyclists among all ethnicities, Pacific Islanders had the highest percentage of noncyclists (64.9%), the lowest percentage of potential cyclists, and one of the lowest percentages of regular cyclists. The study showed that cycling provision perceptions were more affected by factors like ethnicity, education, and bicycle user type than objective measures of bicycle infrastructure. Following the capabilities approach of justice, this study suggests that equitable provision of cycling infrastructure may not lead to an equitable cycling environment. To achieve this, interpersonal and intrapersonal indicators such as ethnicity and community-related factors must also be considered to encourage and empower all population groups to cycle.@en

Research studies on mode shift toward sustainable transport, particularly cycling, have become more common in the last decade. Despite some success in increasing cycling usage, there exist many barriers, both environmental and societal. This study provides a review of the key equity findings to date in cycling usage and identifies knowledge gaps. Barriers to cycling from an equity perspective are examined from three perspectives: policy and planning, infrastructure and cycling facilities, and population groups. The review includes both peer-reviewed and grey papers. Using a systematic review process, out of 73 documents, 33 which met the scope of the study were carefully examined. The review showed that accessibility is the most common measure for bicycling equity. A key knowledge gap is the lack of robust measures to determine inequities in cycling and evaluate the distribution of benefits across population groups. This is attributed to the lack of measures to effectively evaluate a program or policy from an equity perspective. Consequently, this review emphasizes the need to develop and evaluate equity measures for effective policymaking, to ensure that the needs of different population groups are met. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research, given the identified knowledge gaps.

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