Gender and used/preferred differences of bicycle routes, parking, intersection signals, and bicycle type: Professional middle class preferences in Hangzhou, China

Objective To assess preference differences of females, bicyclists, bicyclists/non-bicyclists, and >3 days/week bicyclists about cycle tracks, surrounding environments, parking, signals, and bicycle type among middle class professionals in Hangzhou, a premier bicycling city in China. Methods Surveys were distributed to 1200 middle school students that 1150 parents/adults completed (95.8% completion rate). Multiple linear regression was used to study associations between frequency of bicycling and age, gender, education, income, obesity, and car ownership. Results Cycle tracks were a maximum of 15 feet wide, enabling side-by-side bicycling, with continuous landscaped islands a maximum of 7 feet wide between the road and the cycle track with trees over 40 years old. Almost all knew how to bicycle, 77% of men and 72% of women owned a car, and, of these car owners, 43.8% bicycled each week. Only 47.1% of men and 55.1% of women did not bicycle. Bicycling was deemed enjoyable due to the beautiful surrounding environment (52.7% strongly agreed/agreed). Gender differences were statistically significant for preferring bicycle signals (63.7% men, 69.1% women) and cycle tracks (53.9% men, 60.2% women). Used/preferred differences were statistically significant for bicycle signals (33.8% used versus 71.4% preferred), parking sheds (39.8% used versus 62.7% preferred) and cycle tracks (34.4% used versus 58.6% preferred). Percentages for overweight were significantly different between owning a car (28.8%) and not owning a car (21.0%). Conclusions Cities could test other city׳s innovations including parking sheds, bicycle signals, public bicycles, and wide-landscaped cycle tracks with trees between the cycle track and the road.