Evaluation of the impact of new bicycle infrastructure on the quality of life of urban communities

Abstract

Cycling infrastructure, separated from road traffic, may encourage greater uptake of bicycle commuting in the population. It is not yet known if and how the provision of bicycle paths might impact not only individual health, but community wellbeing more broadly. The opportunity arose to evaluate a new urban cycleway in inner Sydney, Australia as part of the Sydney Travel and Health Study (STAHS). Subjective quality of life (QoL) and other health and transport outcomes were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design. Residents living in the intervention and comparison area were surveyed at baseline, 4 and 16 months post-construction. A mixed methods approach, including before-and-after interviews and intercept survey was used to explore the causal pathway. Cycling, at least weekly for any purpose was positively associated with better physical and psychological outcomes. Evaluation of the new cycleway revealed positive outcomes in terms of greater cycling frequency and improved social capital in the short-term; changes in QoL and physical activity were not observed. The behavioural change process provides some explanation for these findings, primarily, that community acceptance of new urban bicycle infrastructure take time to develop before bicycle commuting is adopted. Quality of life is a long-term outcome, and also takes time to manifest. In conclusion, new bicycle infrastructure has potential to affect QoL and other health outcomes. The association between cycling and QoL is clear, and the benefits of frequent cycling, such as commuting to work by bicycle, have an unequivocal positive impact on our wellbeing. Bicycle infrastructure has an important place in encouraging cycling in the population, yet before this translates to community health benefit, negative attitudes toward cycling need to be overcome, supportive transport policies implemented and network of cycleways constructed.