Effect of the Community-level Built Environment on Cycling Behavior from the Perspective of Differences in Trip Purposes

PENG Ying'ao; YANG Linchuan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-0232.2025.04.011

Abstract：In the context of global environmental changes and rapid urbanization,green transport has become a crucial pathway for the sustainable development of urban transport.Cycling,as a significant mode of green transport,is characterized by flexibility,convenience,low-carbon emissions,and environmental friendliness,and it plays a vital role in alleviating traffic congestion,reducing carbon emissions,and promoting physical activity.In recent years,the excessive motorization trend in urban transport development has led to the continuous encroachment on bicycle road spaces and the deterioration of cycling environments,making it essential to optimize urban spatial environments to encourage more cycling activities.Existing research has extensively confirmed the significant impact of the community-level built environment on cycling behavior.However,these studies often focus on the overall cycling patterns,neglecting the differences between multiple trip purposes,while the influence of the built environment on different types of travel behaviors may vary significantly.Additionally,residents'daily cycling activities often serve multiple purposes,such as commuting,maintenance,and leisure.Therefore,constructing a cycling environment that supports multiple trip purposes holds significant practical importance. This study utilizes data from the 2016 Chengdu Comprehensive Travel Survey and multi-source big data such as street-view images and geospatial information and develops a set of ordered probit regression models to explore the impact of community-level built environment attributes on cycling durations for multiple trip purposes.The findings reveal that:(1)Residents'cycling durations generally exhibit a pattern where"medium duration"(20-40 min)is the most common.There are significant differences in cycling durations across multiple trip purposes,with commuting trips having the longest duration and maintenance trips the shortest.(2)In terms of socio-economic attributes,males and residents with full-time jobs have longer commuting cycling durations;younger males,residents with low household incomes,and those who are unemployed or retired have longer durations for maintenance cycling durations;while leisure cycling is only influenced by household size.(3)The impact of the community-level built environment on cycling behavior varies significantly across multiple trip purposes.Among street-view visual environment elements,the green view index positively influences cycling activities for all three purposes,while the sky view index only shows a positive effect on leisure cycling.Green space area has a significant positive impact on both maintenance and leisure cycling,whereas transit station density is negatively associated with both.For service facilities,shopping facility density is negatively correlated with maintenance cycling,while leisure facility density is positively correlated with leisure cycling.Additionally,road density and proximity to the CBD only influence commuting-related cycling.Based on the above findings,optimization strategies for supporting cycling activities in the community-level built environment are proposed from the following three aspects:(1)Improving spatial layout to enhance the community environmental quality.(2)Optimizing road networks to build a community slow-traffic system.(3)Diversifying facilities to support the creation of community cycling life circles.These recommendations aim to actively promote green transport use among residents and provide valuable insights for advancing cycling-friendly communities and urban development through effective implementation strategies.