This paper examines the determinants of utility bicycling through a cross-sectional study in Tamale, a metropolis with a long history of an embedded cycling culture in Ghana, West Africa. Using a socio-ecological framework, we model the extent to which individual-level characteristics, social environment factors and perceptions of physical environment factors at the neighbourhood and metropolitan scales influence choice of the bicycle as the main transport mode. An exploratory factor analysis distilled the indicators of the latent constructs of the socio-ecological framework into factors, which reflect physical environment challenges and opportunities perceived at the neighbourhood and metropolitan scales; influence of significant others; perceived status symbol of the bike; and perceived commuting benefits of bicycling. A binary logistic regression analysis of the determinants of utility cycling shows that while overall, bicycle ownership is an important determinant of cycling, between the genders, males are more likely to bicycle than females. Also, cyclists are more likely to be non-tertiary educated individuals. Whereas 'perceived neighbourhood-scale challenges' decrease the odds of cycling, 'perceived neighbourhood-scale opportunities', which reflect the availability of bicycle lanes, alternative roads and traffic control measures increase the likelihood of cycling among the study respondents. An interaction term between neighbourhood-scale physical environment opportunities and challenges, however, correlates negatively with cycling, suggesting that overall the metropolitan physical environment is not ideal for cycling. The study points to a huge potential for cycling in the metropolis and provides an empirical basis for interventions needed to remove barriers to bicycle commuting.
Major cities in developing countries are increasingly becoming motorized. Thus, effective solutions to address the negative impacts that come with rising car-ownership are needed as part of an overall travel demand management strategy. In developed and emerging economies, shared-mobility in the form of car-sharing is becoming popular as potentially lowcost and environmentally sustainable alternative to car-ownership. Yet, our understanding of car-sharing adoption and diffusion factors in developing countries is limited. In this study, we fill this gap by examining car-sharing adoption intentions among young adults aged between 18 and 35 years in Ghana, Sub-Saharan Africa. Using structural equation modelling, we model car-sharing adoption intentions based on a framework that integrates individuals' perception of the benefits of car-sharing, attitudes towards the environment and technology, trust of stewardship in car-sharing, perception of innovativeness of carsharing, travel expectations and socio-demographic factors. We found that pro-technology and pro-environmental attitudes correlate positively with perceived benefits of car-sharing. Perceived benefits of car-sharing, in turn, has the largest predictive effect on intentions to car-share. Other factors, including individuals' previous experience using Uber on-demand taxi services, gender, education, driver's licensure and expectation of comfortable and fast travel options, all predict car-sharing adoption intentions. While there exists an interest in both station-based and free-floating car-sharing services, more of the would-be users favour the latter than the former. Also, majority of the potential adopters (62%) would join a car-sharing service within the first 1 year of its introduction. An important finding is that dissatisfaction with existing public transit services underpins car-sharing intentions, implying that relying on car-sharing alone to meet travel needs, without a holistic strategy of providing quality and affordable public transit services, could lead to unsustainable outcomes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.