Conferências ISEC Lisboa, 6 CIDAG

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THE USAGE OF BICYCLE IN UNITED KINGDOM: Human Centered Design approach
Lucas Gabriel Vieira Soares, Fernanda Henriques, Emilene Zitkus

Last modified: 2021-02-09

Abstract


The last mile bike and vehicle market is growing year after year in the world. Among European countries, the United Kingdom remains one of the countries in which this mode of transport still faces problems for popularization and adoption by society (Jones T. et al. 2016). Given this problem, long-term actions carried out by the English government have been accumulating in recent years in order to popularize the use of bicycles on last mile routes, with a view to a sustainable agenda (UK Department for Transport, 2017). However, these actions had timid results in their early implementation (UK Department for Transport, 2019). This research aims to better understand the usability of the bicycle as a last mile urban transport in the English context, starting from theoretical bases defined in Human Centered Design (HCD), as well as serving as a basis for further research. Human centered design is an approach in which the user influences how the shape of the product or service will be taken (Abras, et al; 2004), in order to have an innovation in this field, not only the user, but his entire environment might be taken into account promoting inclusion. Through this study, were sought to understand the relationships between the user, product and environment in order to establish criteria for future studies and evidence of possible problems that affect English society and that justify their numbers, as well as the users' perception of the vehicle and urban structure for your use. The methodology was based on the Human Centered Design Kit developed by Ideo (2015), as well as similar studies by Goldberg et al. (1994) and Jones et al. (2016), having in its composition three stages, which are: the questionnaires, performed digitally; field interview, conducted with a focus on three groups, being the users of bicycle services, the owners of bicycles and those who use a cargo-type bicycle, with collection carried out in the city of London; empirical observations, obtained in the same city as the interviews. Seeking to achieve qualitative and quantitative criteria, generating tables, reports and empirical analyzes. From the data obtained in the questionnaires, tables were generated, where it is possible to observe that among those who use bicycles, most of them use the modal as leisure, with few answers in which their use is due to the transport itself, it was still possible to observe great dissatisfaction with the infrastructure of English cities for the use of vehicles, as far as price perception is concerned, it is notable that vehicles are seen as being slightly expensive, generating some dissatisfaction with the market itself. With regard to the interviews, it was possible to ascertain that the main complaint about the use of the bicycle is safety, with a large part of the interviewees answering that they do not feel safe when using the bicycle in urban spaces, other reports such as confusion when riding and poor infrastructure were also obtained. Within the observations, the points regarding the city's infrastructure for the use of the vehicle were the most analyzed, other points were the space dispute between cyclists and vehicles, lack of children using bicycles, even for leisure, and the rare use of individual safety equipment when riding. The users' perception of the vehicle, however, is positive, both in the questionnaire and in the interviews, it is possible to note that the view regarding the bicycle is based on an agile vehicle, easy to access, ecological and, within shorter distances, more advantageous in relation to motor vehicles. For Raford et al (2007), it is necessary to have an analysis of the most used routes and the reasons that lead users to these routes so that an intelligent planning can be made that actually meets the demand of cyclists. However, what was observed by users does not match this need. In this context, for Pucher et al. (1999) “improving cycling infrastructure, traffic calming neighborhoods, integration with public transport, bike sharing, and training and education programs” are the main ways to achieve the results today found by countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, where the bicycle is organically integrated into urban locomotion. According to the study by Gatersleben and Appleton (2007), culture and habits are the main factor that influences the choice of the bicycle instead of the car, factors that can be modified over time if sufficient efforts are made to do so. Therefore, taking into account the scenarios presented, the data obtained and the analyzes made, it can be understood that future actions for the better insertion of the bicycle as a means of urban transport, must start from two fronts: the urban infrastructure, which needs improvement and better safety for the user and in incentives, whether fiscal or in actions that promote cultural adherence of the modal by the society. This study had limitations in its development, requiring further research, among the limitations we can mention the low statistical sampling and the short term performed. Still within the study, the climate was discarded in the interview places, as well as the non-use of subgroups within the interviews.

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