Hard and soft measures for motivating workers to commute by bicycle: The case of Bogota

Abstract

Motivating workers to commute by bicycle could play a key role in reducing congestion, caring for the environment, helping maintain good health and fitness, and improving the well-being of urban societies. To achieve this behavioral change, it is crucial to understand the main factors that influence bicycle use. This study aims to understand the behavior of workers who do not commute by bicycle by integrating the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social identity into a Hybrid Modal Shift model (HMS) to define measures to motivate them to commute by bicycle. We designed a stated choice experiment comprised of three tangible attributes (i.e., bike lane types, trip-end facilities, and cash incentives). Indicators related to psychological factors of the TPB and social identity, and choices of whether to switch current modes of transportation to the bicycle, were observed through a face-to-face questionnaire addressed to workers who do not commute by bicycle in Bogota, Colombia (N=376). The HMS allowed us to understand the effects of tangible attributes and psychological constructs on the probability of shifting current transportation modes to commuting by bicycle to work. We also obtained the effect of each socioeconomic characteristic on the overall choice of shifting to bicycles. Then, by considering the heterogeneity captured through the psychological constructs, we designed measures based on social identity and some psychological factors of the TPB involving these groups of workers to motivate them to commute by bicycle.