This study explores the integration of cycling with public transport (Cycling-PT) from a household perspective. Varied household types were reflected in the individuals and families who participated in fourty-seven interviews and small group discussions in Nottingham and Leeds. Participants were recruited at railway stations, bike hubs and via activist and bicycle user groups and other gatekeeper organisations in the voluntary, local authority and education sectors between June 2016 and January 2017.
Drawing on literature from the Activity Approach (AA), Mobility Biographies and structuration theory, an interview topic guide was used during individual interviews and small group discussions, supported by visual cue cards. Additional visual elicitation methods supported a second phase of discussions with individuals and families, the participants assembling 3D Styrofoam models of railway stations, using miniature Lego characters to recreate scenarios of journeys when they had combined Cycling-PT. Together, these methods provided insight into the variability of household travel behaviour over the life-course, mental models and reflexive processes.
Interviews with eight family groups who took part with their children revealed how Cycling-PT had enabled the everyday activities of families through specialisation of roles for childcare and employment. Benefits to households included access to employment, particularly for people unable to drive. Time-savings over using buses to access rail journeys contrasted with more divided opinions on cost savings. Families integrated taking children to daycare, or school, with regular combined Cycling-PT commutes, carried by bicycle and train with their parents. Adolescent children travelling independently to visit relatives during school holidays. Childcare provision was influential in family travel decisions, collecting children at the end of the working day acting to constrain the combination of Cycling-PT. Parents valued secure storage for bicycles (and other mobility devices) at nurseries, schools, transport hubs and workplaces.
Qualitative thematic analysis of interview transcripts using NVivo revealed beliefs and related to physical activity shared within households that had motivated the combination of cycling with PT. Participants associated improved mood with the integration of cycling with PT, the combined modes enabling the transition between work or study and household activities.
Bicycle parking at PT hubs complemented carriage of bicycles on board trains to enable a full range of activities to be achieved. Workplace facilitation included flexible, or negotiated working arrangements, changing facilities, storage and showers for cyclists, salary-sacrifice bicycle purchase schemes and supportive colleagues.
These findings have implications for policy, transport design, and offer directions for future research.
