S28 Abstracts / Journal of Transport & Health 9 (2018) S1–S37

2397

Social (in)Equity in Access to Cycling Infrastructure: Examining the Distribution of Bike Lanes with
Respect to Area-Level Sociodemographic Characteristics in 23 Large U.S. Cities
n
Lindsay Braun ,1, Daniel Rodriguez 2, Penny Gordon-Larsen 3

1
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
2
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
3
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Background: Cycling advocates have recently argued that low-income and minority communities across the
U.S. have disproportionately low access to bike lanes. To date, however, quantitative evidence of disparities in
access to bike lanes is limited to a small number of cities.
Methods: We address this research gap by examining cross-sectional associations between bike lanes and
sociodemographic characteristics at the block group level for 23 large U.S. cities (n ¼22,164 block groups).
Dependent variables include the presence (yes/no), density, connectivity, and proximity of bike lanes, mea-
sured using secondary GIS data collected by each of the 23 cities between 2012 and 2016. Primary in-
dependent variables include indicators of race, ethnicity, educational attainment, income, poverty, and a
composite socioeconomic status (SES) index, measured using data from the 2011–2015 American Community
Survey. We use linear and logistic multilevel mixed-effects regression models to estimate associations be-
tween these sociodemographic characteristics and each bike lane dependent variable, before and after ad-
justing for traditional indicators of cycling demand (population and employment density, distance to
downtown, percent of population between ages 18 and 34, percent of workers commuting by bicycle).
Results: In unadjusted associations, disadvantaged block groups (i.e. lower SES, higher proportions of minority
residents) had significantly lower access to bike lanes. After adjusting for traditional indicators of cycling
demand, access to bike lanes remained lower for block groups with particular types of disadvantage (lower
educational attainment, higher proportions of Hispanic residents, lower composite SES) but not with other
types of disadvantage (lower proportions of black residents, lower income, higher poverty).
Conclusions: These results provide empirical support for advocates’ claims of distributional inequalities in bike
lane access, suggesting the importance of more closely considering social equity in the bicycle planning and
advocacy process.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2018.05.086

2402

Investigation of Well-Being, Travel Behaviour, Built Environment and Lifestyle Preferences

n
Stephen McCarthy, Muhammad Ahsanul Habib

Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

Background: The objective of the paper is to investigate how subjective well-being (measured by life sa-
tisfaction, general health status and stress level) is associated with travel behaviour, the built environment and
lifestyle preferences. Travel behaviour research is interested in well-being as a means to evaluate the social
value of travel, compare modes of travel and guide transportation policy. Travel is theorized to impact well-
being directly through people's experience of their travel, and indirectly by facilitating access to healthy or
fulfilling activities. Since the built environment and lifestyle preferences influence travel choices, they are also
important considerations for travel behaviour and well-being.
Methods: The study used a 2016 travel activity survey of Nova Scotia residents including questions on sub-
jective well-being. The survey data was combined with GIS-based built environment measures derived at the
census Dissemination Area level. The study developed ordered probit regression models to explore the factors