TOWARDS A TROPICAL CYCLING NATION: INCENTIVES THAT AFFECT BIKING BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

As Liveability and Sustainability gain increasing international prominence, cities are placing greater focus on greener modes of Urban Mobility. Motorised cities are deemed environmentally and spatially unsustainable and thus further incentivise the government to source for more viable modes of transportation. This dissertation is motivated by the low cycling rates in Singapore, despite large physical infrastructure already available. This begets the question of the incentives that affects cycling rates and behavior in Singapore, if physical infrastructures are not enough to encourage cycling. This study focuses on how comfort and convenience, influenced by Tropical Weather and Climate, can affect cycling rates. Further studies on the dock-less bike sharing system are conducted to analyse its effect on comfort and convenience of cycling in Singapore. This paper findings, through statistical survey analysis of ordered logit regression, shows that the Weather and Climate leads to discomfort and the availability of public transportation leads to greater comfort and convenience which greatly reduces cycling rate. Cycling rates between different Occupational Income were found to have no statistically significant differences. Males are more likely to cycle. The availability of dock-less bicycles seemingly does not improves the convenience of cycling and respodents are generally indifferent about the prices offered by different firms. Thus, this study contributes to the limited local studies on Tropical Weather and Cycling Rates, coupled with a section dedicated to the study of the new dock-less bike sharing system. The findings of this paper provides implications and suggestions for policymakers and future transportation plans.