Introduction

Infrastructure adjusted to cyclists can be used as a tool to reduce cycling crashes and injuries. To increase cycling frequency and safety, a population's cycling exposure to different infrastructure needs to be known. Since cycling behavior of adolescents cannot be compared to adults, the objective of this study is to describe the cycling exposure and the characteristics of routes used by adolescents for bicycle commuting.

Methods

We used an online travel diary to collect bicycle route information and an exposure matrix to collect cycling frequency data. Data were collected in Flanders (Belgium) from an adolescent population (15–18 years).

Results

From the 1345 participating adolescents, 47% used their bicycle at least once a week. Infrastructural correlates were based on 467,000 km of cycled roads with a mean trip distance of 5.7 ± 4.5 km; 91% of cycling exposure is on infrastructure with speed limits of 50 km/h or more and 32.7% on dedicated cycle lanes. Lower motorized traffic density was related to higher odds of daily bicycle commuting. Higher traffic densities or speed limits were related to lower odds of daily bicycle commuting, but this relationship disappeared after adjusting for presence of a dedicated cycle lane.

Conclusions

Many adolescents who commute by bicycle cycle along streets with high speed limits and no dedicated cycle lanes probably because of the low motorized traffic densities on these roads. Adolescents should avoid roads without dedicated cycling infrastructure and high speed limits since these roads have been identified as high risk. The results are region specific and therefore this study should be replicated in other contexts.

中文翻译：

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弗拉芒地区青少年人群的自行车暴露与基础设施相关

介绍

适应骑自行车者的基础设施可以用作减少骑车事故和伤害的工具。为了增加骑自行车的频率和安全性，需要知道人们对不同基础设施的骑自行车暴露。由于无法将青少年的自行车行为与成人进行比较，因此本研究的目的是描述自行车的暴露情况以及青少年用于自行车通勤的路线的特征。

方法

我们使用在线旅行日记收集自行车路线信息，并使用暴露矩阵收集自行车频率数据。数据来自弗拉芒（比利时）的青少年人群（15-18岁）。

结果

在1345名参与调查的青少年中，有47％的青少年每周至少使用一次自行车。基础设施相关性基于467,000 km的自行车道，平均行进距离为5.7±4.5 km；91％的自行车暴露在基础设施上，其时速限制为50 km / h或更高，在专用自行车道上为32.7％。较低的机动车交通密度与每日通勤的可能性较高有关。较高的交通密度或速度限制与每日上下班通勤的可能性较低有关，但在调整了专用自行车道的存在后，这种关系消失了。

结论

许多青少年沿着自行车道上下班，街道上行驶速度限制高，没有专用的自行车道，这可能是因为这些道路上的机动车交通密度较低。青少年应避免在没有专用自行车基础设施和高速度限制的道路上行驶，因为这些道路已被确定为高风险道路。结果是针对特定地区的，因此该研究应在其他情况下进行重复。