An inside look at active transportation in Bogota: A qualitative study

Health benefits of physical activity are well documented in the literature. Transportation by bicycle is a modality of physical activity that people can easily incorporate into their daily lives. A qualitative study using 11 semi-structured individual interviews and 5 focus groups was conducted among 31 male and 13 female adult residents of Bogota, Colombia in 2006. The purpose of the study was to explore barriers and facilitators of bicycle use for transportation purposes. People were selected based on socioeconomic status, age, and gender. Thematic analysis complemented with thematic network analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Six main themes emerged from the study: 1) general acknowledgment of individual and collective benefits of bicycle use, 2) built environment conditions were linked with bicycle use, 3) some social factors affect bicycling negatively, 4) people perceived conflicts over public space related to the use of bike-paths, 5) general negative public perception of bicyclists, and 6) gender differences influence patterns of bicycle use. The findings show that various social and physical barriers must be addressed to increase bicycle use as a means of transportation in Bogota.

• Record URL:
  http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/jpah.9.6.776
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/15433080
• Authors:
  • Mosquera, Janeth
  • Parra, Diana C
  • Gomez, Luis Fernando
  • Sarmiento, Olga
  • Schmid, Tom
  • Jacoby, Enrique
• Publication Date: 2012-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 776-785
• Serial:
  • Journal of Physical Activity and Health
  • Volume: 9
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: Human Kinetics, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 1543-3080
  • EISSN: 1543-5476
  • Serial URL: http://journals.humankinetics.com/jpah

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceptance; Bicycle travel; Bicycling; Demographics; Gender; Physical fitness; Public health; Qualitative analysis; Social factors
• Geographic Terms: Bogota (Colombia)
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01448645
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 8 2012 8:45AM