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Cycling is a desirable mode of transportation in urban areas due to its environmental, social, and economic benefits. Design manuals are used as standardized references and guides to provide safe, functional, and convenient bicycle infrastructure. These guidelines usually provide best practice recommendations and refer to minimum requirements for dimensions (geometry) and materials. However, these documents rarely include input from cyclists. Unlike the infrastructure service perceived by motorists, which is related to performance measurements such as speed or travel time, the quality of service (QoS) experienced by pedestrians and cyclists is strongly influenced by perceptions (e.g., safety) owing to the fact that they are directly exposed to the environment. Beyond the performance-related indicators (e.g., Level of Service), when cyclists assess QoS, their cognitive process incorporates their perceptions of the surroundings. We present a user-oriented perspective in this paper, since supply-oriented evaluation and design has been carried out for decades without giving a relevant role to user perceptions. Our objective is to uncover factors explaining QoS perceived by cyclists from users' perceptions and to analyze new contributions to existing bicycle infrastructure design practices. By means of stepwise models from cyclist perception intercept surveys in Bogotá, Colombia, we uncovered factors that explain QoS. Model testing and site visits enrich the analysis of the six statistically significant variables that explain QoS. This research raises an interesting discussion on the general approach and philosophy of the bicycle infrastructure design guidelines and evidences that cyclists' perceptions have substantial potential for future research and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent information and communication technology innovations have brought with them a broad set of new urban transportation options (e.g. ridesourcing, scooters, etc.), as well as the opportunity to improve transportation systems. The taxi industry, historically linked to communication technology, is now in the throes of a massive upheaval due to the introduction and use of internet-based mobile technologies in personal devices. Taxi e-hailing cellphone applications (apps) pair users looking to ride with available taxis. Do apps replace the radiophone? Do drivers behave differently? Is it more profitable for them to operate with apps? This paper answers these and more questions related to the effects of these technological innovations on taxi operations and taxi drivers' behavior, based on a before-after survey in Bogotá, Colombia. We applied descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and multivariate regression analysis based on surveys involving the city's taxi drivers, conducted in 2009 and 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motorcycle and car ownership are rapidly growing in the Global South. However, little research has been conducted to understand the factors influencing motorcycle ownership and whether they differ from those affecting car ownership. In this paper, we explore and explain the similarities and differences between the factors that influence the decision to own both types of private vehicles in Bogotá, Colombia. Using information from the 2019 Household Travel Survey and open land-use information of Bogotá, we formulate and estimate two independent discrete choice models for car ownership and motorcycle ownership. Our results indicate that the factors influencing the decision to own a car are indeed not the same as those influencing the decision to own a motorcycle. First, we found that sociodemographic variables do not keep the same sign, magnitude, or meaning in both types of ownership models. However, the main difference between the two specifications is associated with spatial-related (geographic) variables. Mixed land uses, density, and proximity to mass transit seems to affect car ownership, while living in the periphery of the city increases the likelihood of owning a motorcycle. Our findings provide evidence about a topic that is essential in transportation demand models for mobility plans, especially in the Global South. They also highlight the need for further research focusing on motorcycle ownership. • There is limited information for understanding motorcycle ownership in Global South. • Factors for motorcycle ownership are different to those explaining car ownership. • Living in the urban periphery of the city rises the utility of owning a motorcycle. • Motorcycle ownership seems to be related with mass transit quality of service. • Further research focusing on motorcycle ownership and policies should be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Mehrabian-Russell model can explain pedestrians' avoidance behavior. • Overarousal and submissiveness evince a negative emotional response. • A negative emotional response towards infrastructure is related with avoidance. • Given our results, non-motorized transportation can incorporate the MRM. • Approach behaviors need to be understood within the sustainable mobility paradigm. Social and environmental psychology provide a variety of models based on which to understand how built environments can elicit people's behavioral responses. The Mehrabian-Russell model (MRM), initially presented in 1974, provides a framework that explains avoid–approach behavior towards a place based on a primary emotional response (PER) and affective states elicited by the perceived stimuli from the environment. However, despite the potential applications of the MRM in travel behavior studies, traditional models (e.g., discrete choice models and integrated choice latent variable) do not incorporate this specific psychological process that converts environmental stimuli into behavioral responses. Hence, this paper aims to test the applicability of MRM to urban sidewalks. To fulfill this objective, we developed a two-level structural equation model using latent variables (LV) identified from a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) based on 1056 in-person surveys on 30 different sidewalks in Bogotá, Colombia. We then evaluated the effect of the PER on declared avoidance as a proxy of behavioral intention. The CFA uncovered three LV equivalent to the three affective dimensions of the MRM—arousal, pleasure, and dominance—followed by a fourth LV, representing the PER, which explains the three previous LVs. This confirms the applicability of these kinds of psychological and environmental models in pedestrian behavior evaluation. We found that PER can explain the declared intention of avoidance towards the sidewalk in an urban setting. Proving that this kind of model can explain the way in which the built environment can elicit pedestrians' emotional responses and subsequent behaviors, provides information that can be used as input in travel behavior studies focusing on the promotion of active traveling and mode change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pedestrians' interaction with their built environment affects the perceived quality of service. • Pedestrian perception of their QoS is directly improved by the perception of the sidewalk characteristics. • Pedestrian perception of their QoS decrease by the interaction with motor vehicles, bicyclists, and themselves. • New studies about pedestrian infrastructure quality of service should include pedestrians' sensory experiences. A better understanding of what walking entails is important in sustainable transportation planning. Recent research has shown that perceptions have a higher power to explain the quality of service (QoS) than objective measures have; the latter being typically used in the pedestrian level of service methodologies. Despite the existing research on perceptions and QoS in other transportation fields, very little information has been found in the literature that can explain a clear cognitive structure that defines the pedestrian QoS. In this research, we propose a cognitive map to make it possible to understand and explain pedestrian sidewalk QoS of a given infrastructure when walking, based on perceptions. We gathered the perceptions of 1056 pedestrians on-site, regarding the attributes (indicators) identified in the literature review in 30 locations in Bogotá, Colombia. Based on an Exploratory Factor Analysis, we developed a conceptual model through Structural Equation Modeling. We found that seven latent variables (LVs) (i.e., Sidewalk characteristics, Externalities, Surrounding, Discomfort, Bike hassles, Protection, and Amenities) interrelate to each other, forming a pedestrian cognitive map. QoS is directly explained by how pedestrians perceive the LVs sidewalk characteristics and surrounding and indirectly by the rest of LVs. The cognitive map shows three LVs related to the interaction between pedestrians and other transportation modes (i.e., externalities, discomfort, and bike hassles) that impact the perceived QoS negatively, and four LVs related to the interaction between pedestrians and different elements of the sidewalk (i.e., sidewalk characteristics, surrounding, amenities, and protection) that impact the perceived QoS positively. To understand pedestrian perceptions when walking and the path that these perceptions follow to develop a QoS perception provides an accurate tool by which to improve the QoS from the useŕs perspective, generating a new opportunity to provide better pedestrian facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cyclists' interaction with their built environment affects the perceived quality of service. • Cyclists' attitudes and perceptions when riding explain infrastructure quality of service. • Pro-bike attitudes have a direct effect on perceived enjoyment. • Cycling infrastructure quality of service is influenced indirectly by pro-bike attitudes. • New studies on cycling infrastructure quality of service should include cyclists' sensory experiences. Many approaches have been developed to assess the performance or Quality of Service (QoS) rendered by cycling infrastructure. The most common methodologies (Level of Service/Level of Traffic Stress) do not consider user inputs. In other disciplines, user perceptions constitute a powerful tool that can help improve and tailor designs. This study was intended to explore the effect of cyclists' attitudes and perceptions on the perceived QoS of different cycling infrastructures using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The SEM model was developed using cyclist surveys applied at 16 locations comprising all typologies of cycling infrastructure in Bogotá, Colombia. We found that user attitudes and perceptions of tangible (e.g., pavement) and intangible attributes (e.g., enjoyment) can explain cyclists' QoS. The results lead to a better understanding of typical Global South cyclist perceptions when riding, and provide an accurate tool with which to improve cycling infrastructure QoS from a cyclist perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]