Self-identified Women's Gendered Mobility Experiences and Cycling Frequency, and the Modifying Role of Newly Introduced Cycling Facilities

Cycling facilities are a widely used, sustainable transportation policy tool, but their impacts on mitigating gendered barriers to cycling is less studied. This paper presents the findings from an online household survey conducted in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada, specifically focusing on 10 neighbourhoods- five with a newly constructed cycling facility and five without. Results from ordinal logistic regression models indicated a higher likelihood of commute-related cycling among women who are between the ages 30-44 years, who work part-time, and who have children, on streets with a new cycling facility. Using a feminist geography lens, I argue that the presence of cycling facilities potentially allowed some women to minimize the patriarchal barriers they experience when cycling, including psychological and social expectations around feminine performance, embodiment and material understanding of their “cycling body”. This work calls for future gendered mobility work to further explore the contextual consideration of women’s and gender fluid individuals’ intersectional experiences influencing their cycling frequency, as dictated by their societally influenced gendered mobility experiences and socio-demographic factors.