The scientists - Eva Heinen, Bert van Wee and Kees Maat - interviewed residents of Delft, Zwolle, Midden-Delfland and Pijnacker-Nootdorp by means of an internet survey. They discovered a number of remarkable relations between personal characteristics and bicycle use in commuters.
Students, for instance, do not appear to be regular full-time commuter cyclists, although they do cycle a lot. Moreover, more full-time cyclists occur among employees whose colleagues also expect them to cycle to work. And in cases of permanent or temporary employment chances of a full-time cyclist are also higher than for people on secondment. Chances for full-time commuter cyclists are smaller when a car is available for commuting. And more part-time cycling occurs among people in the building industry and education.
A possible explanation for the differences in bicycle use - for instance between agriculture and public utilities - might be the differences in earnings between the various sectors. On the other hand no relations were found between for instance the number of working days, working hours or work site. Possession of a driver’s licence was also of no relevance. The results of the study may be used for a more targeted promotion of commuting by bicycle, according to TU Delft.