Presentation of a qualitative research study into walking and cycling in market towns in Oxfordshire. Find out more https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/oxfordshire-active-travel/
Welcome to the presentation of the study supporting modal shift to active travel in market towns in Oxfordshire I’m Tricia Jessiman and with my colleague Professor Russ Jago we conducted this study on behalf of PHIRST Insight. Oxfordshire County Council set out their ambition to improve walking and cycling rates
In their local transport and connectivity plan and their active travel strategy both set out in 2022. Our study focuses on initiatives to improve cycling and walking in the market times of Bicester and Whitney. These initiatives include infrastructure improvements, things like: changes to traffic flows, reduced traffic speeds and new infrastructure for walking and cycling.
Schools and Family Focus projects and a range of community activation projects designed in partnership with local community groups. In the UK, all four Chief Medical Officers recommend that adults undertake at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each week.
But only 61% of adults in England achieve this. Physical inactivity contributes to one in six deaths in the UK. Active travel defined as making routine journeys in physically active ways is a potential solution. The department for transport’s latest cycling and walking investment strategy sets
Out the ambition that cycling and walking will be the natural first choice for many journeys with half of all journeys in towns and cities being cycled or walked by 2030. This ambition will require a significant modal shift. Currently 72% of all trips in England are under five miles
But most of these are made by car. There is a lot of research on how to encourage modal shift towards active travel in cities. But much less research has been undertaken in market towns where infrastructure and public transport may be less well developed.
In the past few decades market towns have changed from being simply rural market and service centres to multifunctional areas of employment, services and visitor attractions and home to a diverse range of residents with varying needs including retired adults and working age adults who commute out to other areas daily.
Our research aimed to address the following questions: What is the impact of active travel interventions on commuters and older adults defined here as anyone over 65 and can the interventions implemented in large urban areas be successfully replicated in market towns?
There is existing research on attitudes towards active travel amongst old adults we know that their active travel behavior is influenced by the availability and accessibilities of destinations. So destinations need to be an achievable distance to walk or cycle we also know that infrastructure is important. Things like well-maintained foot paths, benches
And street lights and the older act cyclists prefer off-road cycle paths well separated from traffic. Research can also tell us about active travel and commuting. We know that active commuting is associated with having a sedentary job, a shorter commute and or a lack of free car parking at work.
New cycling and walking infrastructure helps but that if it lacks connectivity it’s unlikely to promote active travel. Fully integrated approaches including new infrastructure, cycle hubs at public transport stations and traffic calming measures etc may be more successful. These are our aims and objectives for this study. To understand how new cycling
And walking infrastructure and community activation projects might support modal shift towards active travel amongst commuters and older adults making journeys in Whitney and Bicester. After some discussion with our colleagues in Oxfordshire County Council we wanted to focus on two groups in particular. Older adults defined as those between 65 and
75 years who live independently and working aged adults who commute to work at least three days a week. This is a qualitative study we conducted focus groups with commuters and older adults who lived in Whitney and Bicester with a focus on those who lived on the newer housing estates where much
Of the new infrastructure had been introduced. And then we also did some go-along interviews. These are one to one interviews conducted during or shortly after a cycle or walking trip that was led by the participants. I was lucky enough to be given short tours of both times by people
In Whitney and Bicester and they told me about their experiences of walking and cycling round the towns. The purpose of undertaking an accompanied active travel journey is to explore together with the researcher and the participant perceptions understandings and experiences of active travel journeys as they happen or soon after. The participant
Chooses the route the date and the time so it puts them in control and during our journeys I asked participants to wear a ‘Go-Pro’ camera so we captured some images of the journey along the way. Recruitment for the study was supported by the Thames Valley and South Midlands Clinical Research Network.
33 participants took part in our study in the focus groups. There was an even split between male and female so 16 of each with one not disclosing gender and also a good split between types of participant whether they were a commuter or an older adult and
Also whether they resided in Whitney or Bicester. 8 of those participants agreed to take part in a go along interview and the vast majority of our participants were white British reflecting the demographics of both towns. Travel mode preferences
Older adults were more likely to walk or cycle than those making commuter journeys. There were some commuters in our study who did actively travel mostly by cycle but the vast majority were commuting to work by car. Or for those who lived in Bicester by public transport to Oxford.
The reasons to walk or cycle that were common to both groups are in blue on this slide. It was more convenient, it was quicker or it’s just a nice route. Health came up a lot for the older adults in our study
As a reason to travel actively. Either maintaining good health, avoiding ill health or addressing poor health such as diabetes. For some older adults as their eyesight declines they may find that they cannot drive. There was one commuter who also gave health as a reason but they were an outlier
For the commuter group for whose reasons for walking or cycling centre around convenience and cost. Older adults were far more likely to talk about the disadvantages of walking. The disadvantages of walking did not really come up for commuters. The main concerns that older
Adults raised were overgrown or uneven paths and pavements causing hazards for tripping. Hills. The time it takes to walk. Issues carrying heavy items so most would prefer to use a car for the big shop. Sharing paths with cyclists was perceived as risky. Often they’re too narrow to walk side by side with colleagues or friends.
They can feel intimidated by cyclists going past them quite quickly. This is also true on pavements so many raised issues with cyclists cycling on the pavement and difficulties with unlit paths. So most will not use paths in the dark if they’re not well lit and that’s also true for female commuters.
If we move on to how older adults perceive cycling many again outline disadvantages. Several older adults, more likely women, are concerned with self-efficacy. They feel wobbly, they describe themselves as too old or not confident this is sometimes but not always a result of previous accidents. Many would cycle if there were dedicated paths
But it is unusual that these go from the front door to the town centre or wherever they want to get to. They usually have to use roads for some of the journey. Again paths that do exist
Are often not lit or very poorly lit and so older adults tend not to use these in winter or in darkness. and there is also concern about other people people hanging around these paths. Older adults can feel unsafe on the roads and be concerned that they’re holding up motorised traffic.
They don’t want to inconvenience car drivers and also some concern about the risk of repercussions if they do. There is a dislike about hills and many won’t cycle in the rain because spray and poor visibility makes them feel unsafe.
Older adults also told us that they don’t like not being able to offer lifts to friends going to the same activity as they would be able to if they were in a car. Some of those in our focus groups were tempted by electric bikes which would address some of these issues
particularly speed and hills but they are expensive and there is a worry about security if they have to lock it up somewhere and leave it. The disadvantages of cycling mentioned by commuters in our focus groups were slightly different to those mentioned by older adults. They’re more confident they worry less about
Hills and about the weather than older adults. But they do share concerns about safety both from other road users and poor lighting. They had similar concerns about conflict with car drivers. This might be a gendered issue. Female cyclists in particular were worried about male car drivers.
For commuters, time spent getting ready before and after cycling is off putting and for those going into Oxford it’s just too far. Although one commuter in our group did do it. Safety is very important to both groups as a reason not to cycle. Personal safety from cars from other path users
and safety of their bike and kit. There’s a strong feeling that bike theft matters less or is less prioritized by society and by the police than car theft. Cycling in a market town. The good news is that participants said there were a lot of cycle paths and they liked that.
Cycle paths are particularly prominent around the new housing estates. People in our groups use them and liked them. They can get a bit congested but are known as shared paths and cyclists and pedestrians tend to share them without much conflict. They do need maintaining
The perception is that road maintenance takes priority over cycle path maintenance. The other good news is that most liked the signs around the town telling you about cycling and walking towns and that as you probably know Whitney and Bicester are comparatively flat and compact which makes cycling easier.
Participants in both groups also mentioned the impediments to cycling in market towns. Poor infrastructure is the main one. There is a lack of off-road cycle paths. Cyclists often have to share the roads and these are narrow roads in market towns. Resulting in a lot of close passes as you can see on the top slide
And worries about impatient drivers. Paths and roads are often poorly maintained you can see on the bottom slide there are pot holes, uneven surfaces, some overgrowth and a lot of litter and glass was mentioned.
This is an example of one of the paths in Whitney which is often overgrown by the trees and bushes on the right hand side of the path and often you can get a lot of litter and glass from cars on the left.
Other problems about cycling in market towns raised in our focus groups include concerns about poorly lit paths as you can see on the top slide. There was also a perception that there are just fewer cyclists in market towns
Leading to a perception that cycling is less normalised and that drivers in market times are less cyclist aware. In Bicester on one of the new estates traffic calming measures include high curbs narrow carriageways and green barriers between carriageways and this deterred some of the older cyclists in our groups
who worried that they were holding up traffic with no space to pass. Advisory painted paths on roads lead to conflict with drivers and they’re often parked over as you can see on the bottom slide. Walking in a market town. Older adults were more likely than commuters to have concerns about walking.
Again poor infrastructure was the main problem. Poor maintenance of paths and pavements or unpaved paths came up a lot. A lot of overgrowth narrowing the paths or making them unsafe and also about the risk of collision with cyclists on shared paths.
Older adults were also concerned about poor lighting and this was also something that was shared by female commuters who did not like walking on unlit paths. In Bicester long pedestrian and cycling crossing times exist on the A41. In this crossing here that you can see on the bottom slide
There are three carriageways to cross and when we did it it took us over 3 and a half minutes. So what might encourage model shift in market towns? When we asked the participants in our focus groups the main thing that they wanted was new and improved infrastructure.
They wanted more off-road cycle and walking paths and where these are shared they wanted the encouragement of share with care so signage to encourage walking and cycling safely and to be considerate of other path users. They wanted better path maintenance and better path lighting.
And finally prioritising pedestrians and cyclists at crossings and junctions was also really important. We also asked them what they thought of the active travel interventions that had taken place in their towns. Participants were broadly supportive of reducing traffic speeds in residential areas. But less so if they were commuting car drivers.
They also felt that these reduced speeds required enforcement and there was the perception that drivers were speeding in these areas with impunity. People also wanted more secure bike parking particularly for E-bikes. In both towns there had been a number of community interventions to encourage modal shift towards active travel
And these included things like: guided walks and cycles, some bike loan schemes and bike maintenance sessions. When we asked participants those who had taken part really liked them but there was a general lack of awareness of all of these and it was felt that they weren’t really very well publicised.
The participants in our study wanted a focus on education, promotion and culture change around active travel. They wanted better awareness of the community projects to promote active travel that were running in both towns. They wanted a focus on the positive aspects of walking and cycling
And they wanted examples of role models that could be shared in schools and in the community. For cycling especially the social norms may be different in a market town compared to a city. There is the perception that cycling is just a little bit more unusual
And that car drivers are not as aware of cyclists making them feel less safe. and this is backed up by some research in the literature that there is safety in numbers the more cyclists the fewer collisions there tend to be. So we made a number of recommendations to Oxfordshire County Council.
We suggested that they focus on the advantages of active travel. So things like health, the environment and cost of living crisis. We suggested that community activation projects like the guided walks and cycles they’ve been running the loan schemes etc these needs to be much better promoted.
Work still needs to be done on infrastructure and particularly around improved connectivity of paths and lanes and lighting. Paths need to be maintained so looking after ground surfaces and cutting back overgrowth. Work around cycling safety and security and work around changing the social norms
Making it more normal, or to feel more normal to cycle in a market town. So we drew a number of conclusions from our study. We would suggest that market towns do have intrinsic advantages for active travel. Our participants told us that they are relatively compact, they’re flat
And most routine destinations are within easy reach either walking or cycling. They are far nearer meeting the criteria for 20-minute neighbourhoods than many larger towns and cities. The barriers to active travel for older adults and commuters are broadly similar to those identified in research in larger urban areas. Poor infrastructure is the key problem.
The infrastructure requirements include more delineated walking and cycling paths and better connectivity of these paths. Once built they need to be maintained and this includes maintaining or putting in lighting. More secure cycle parking particularly bike lockers and facilities for E-bikes
And these findings are broadly supported by other research that has been conducted in cities and towns by Sustrans. and remember anything that you do to improve accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists is also likely to improve access for ‘wheelers’: those using wheelchairs and / or mobility scooters.
Our study shows that market towns are really not much different than cities when it comes to promoting active travel Policies are more likely to be effective when they include integrated and complimentary measures targeted at a range of levels. From individual behaviour change to population level measures like large scale infrastructure improvements.
However in market towns attitudes towards active travel in particular cycling might in fact differ an initiative to change the social norms around cycling might be required to increase active travel rates. Thank you for listening. You can find out more information about this study by emailing me, Tricia ‘dot’ Jessiman ‘@’ bristol.ac.uk
There’s also information on the PHIRST website @ phirst ‘dot’ ac ‘dot’ uk Our study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research, Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Team. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the department for Health and Social Care.