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What drives the gender-cycling-gap? Census analysis from Ireland

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  • Carroll, James
  • Brazil, William
  • Morando, Bruno
  • Denny, Eleanor

Abstract

Cycling rates have been increasing in Ireland over the last ten years, but there is a large difference in male and female participation – only about a quarter of cyclists on Irish roads are female. This paper combines the latest census data with geospatial cycle lane data to explore the drivers of the gender-cycling-gap across 238 electoral districts in Dublin, Ireland. Our core hypothesis is motivated by previous literature which suggests that differences in female risk aversion could partly explain the gap. To test this hypothesis, we explore if areas with safer cycling routes to the city centre have relatively stronger effects for females, controlling for a range of area geographic and demographic factors. Both male and female bicycle participation is negatively correlated with an area's distance to the city, share of apartments and average income, and positively correlated with education. Comparing results across genders shows that the gender-cycling-gap is due to relatively larger negative effects for distance, income and apartments for females, which is partly offset by stronger positive education effects. Routes with very high shares of separated or off-road lanes (top quartile) have significantly higher cycling rates. This effect, although stronger for females, is not statistically different across genders. We highlight a number of gender-based policy recommendations related to cycling infrastructure, bicycle storage and bicycle supports (electric bicycles).

Suggested Citation

  • Carroll, James & Brazil, William & Morando, Bruno & Denny, Eleanor, 2020. "What drives the gender-cycling-gap? Census analysis from Ireland," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 95-102.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:97:y:2020:i:c:p:95-102
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2020.07.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Song, Yena & Preston, John & Ogilvie, David, 2017. "New walking and cycling infrastructure and modal shift in the UK: A quasi-experimental panel study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 320-333.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Esther Fasan & Miles Tight & Harry Evdorides, 2021. "Factors Influencing Cycling among Secondary School Adolescents in an Ethnically Diverse City: The Perspective of Birmingham Transport Stakeholders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Nessa Winston, 2022. "Sustainable community development: Integrating social and environmental sustainability for sustainable housing and communities," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 191-202, February.
    4. Palm, Matthew, 2024. "The impact of night and evening shift work on social exclusion, family travel, and mobilities of care," SocArXiv ts8zf, Center for Open Science.
    5. Rupi, Federico & Freo, Marzia & Poliziani, Cristian & Postorino, Maria Nadia & Schweizer, Joerg, 2023. "Analysis of gender-specific bicycle route choices using revealed preference surveys based on GPS traces," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 1-14.
    6. Ross Higgins & Aoife Ahern, 2021. "Students’ and Parents’ Perceptions of Barriers to Cycling to School—An Analysis by Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, November.
    7. Xinyi Xie & Mingyang Du & Xuefeng Li & Yunjian Jiang, 2023. "Exploring Influential Factors of Free-Floating Bike-Sharing Usage Frequency before and after COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cycling participation; Gender imbalance; Bicycle lanes; Bicycle safety;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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