Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/by Sura Nualpradid
Research and surveys continue to show that men ride bikes far more than women – by a long-shot. It’s an interesting phenomenon. Why don’t women ride more often? Interestingly enough, there’s not very much information about why there’s such a disparity. There is, however, some research showing how to close the gap.
Households With No Bikers Tend Not To Bike
It should be obvious, but households with no bikers tend not to have any bikers. Does that sound tautological? Of course it is, but it’s an important finding if only to point out that there’s not always a gender gap in every situation. It’s largely contextual. If men have no history of riding a bike, they’re not likely to pick it up, and the older one gets, the less likely one is to change habits.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but it’s a rule for a reason. Now, once you move beyond this starting point, something interesting happens.
Households With One Biker Favor Men
When there’s just one cyclist in the family, that cyclist tends to be a man. This is according to a 2010 study called Travel Behavior Inventory, which is a collection of studies on travel patters conducted every 10 years by the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council.
Data is self-reported by 14,000 people, so take it for what it’s worth. But, out of that data, we see some pretty impressively consistent results. Researchers still don’t understand the causality for this effect, but it’s clear that men outpace women in this context.
