Bicycle Facilities That Address Safety, Crime, and Economic Development: Perceptions from Morelia, Mexico

Inés Alveano-Aguerrebere, Francisco Javier Ayvar-Campos, Maryam Farvid and Anne Lusk
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Inés Alveano-Aguerrebere: Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, 58040 Morelia, Mexico
Francisco Javier Ayvar-Campos: Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, 58040 Morelia, Mexico
Maryam Farvid: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Building II Room 314, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Anne Lusk: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Building II Room 314, Boston, MA 02115, USA

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: México is a developing nation and, in the city of Morelia, the concept of the bicyclist as a road user appeared only recently in the Municipal Traffic Regulations. Perhaps the right bicycle infrastructure could address safety, crime, and economic development. To identify the best infrastructure, six groups in Morelia ranked and commented on pictures of bicycle environments that exist in bicycle-friendly nations. Perceptions about bike paths, but only those with impossible-to-be-driven-over solid barriers, were associated with safety from crashes, lowering crime, and contributing to economic development. Shared use paths were associated with lowering the probability of car/bike crashes but lacked the potential to deter crime and foster the local economy. Joint bus and bike lanes were associated with lower safety because of the unwillingness by Mexican bus drivers to be courteous to bicyclists. Gender differences about crash risk biking in the road with the cars (6 best/0 worst scenario) were statistically significant (1.4 for male versus 0.69 for female; p < 0.001). For crashes, crime, and economic development, perceptions about bicycle infrastructure were different in this developing nation perhaps because policy, institutional context, and policing (ticketing for unlawful parking) are not the same as in a developed nation. Countries such as Mexico should consider building cycle tracks with solid barriers to address safety, crime, and economic development.

Keywords: bicycle infrastructure; bicycling choice; crash safety; crime lowering; economic development; developing nation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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