Determinants of mode and route change following the opening of a new cycleway in Sydney, Australia Christopher Standen a,n , Melanie Crane b , Andrew Collins a , Stephen Greaves a , Chris Rissel b a Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia b Prevention Research Collaboration, Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia article info Article history: Received 26 July 2016 Received in revised form 29 September 2016 Accepted 5 October 2016 Keywords: Physical activity Bicycle Infrastructure Diversion Mode choice Route choice abstract Background: The impact of new bicycle infrastructure is under-studied, particularly in cities with under-developed bicycle networks. This paper assesses the factors associated with people taking up bicycling, and changing their usual bicycle route, following the opening of a new cycleway separated from traffic in inner-city Sydney, Australia. Methods: 783 people using the cycleway were intercepted and surveyed at two sites. Linear regression was used to identify factors predicting the extent to which respondents had diverted from the shortest route to use the cycleway. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with respondents who had changed transport mode or bicycle route since the cycleway opened. The models included observed gender and age, trip purpose, attire, length of time riding regularly, and intercept location. Results: The average distance respondents had diverted to use the cycleway was esti- mated to be 351 m, with commuters diverting by 252 m on average, and non-commuters by 551 m on average. The 40% of respondents who had switched mode to bicycle were most likely to: have been riding regularly for two years or less (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 8.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.60–11.84); appearover 29 years of age (AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.02–2.23); and, in the case of commuters, be female (AOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.05–2.68). Conclusions: Government agencies that want to give non-regular riders and more women the option to travel by bicycle should consider building separated cycleways. People will take a longer route to use separated cycleways, but to a lesser extent if they are com- muting to work or study. Cycleway routes intended for commuting purposes should be as direct as possible. & 2016 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved. 1. Introduction More than half of Australia's population are not sufficiently active (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013), placing them at a greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016). Giving more people the option to use a bicycle for everyday transport is often suggested as a way of increasing population physical activity, and has clear environmental, social and economic co-benefits (Bauman et al., 2008). For this reason, many gov- ernments worldwide have included in their transport strategies an objective to increase bicycle use (e.g., City of Sydney, Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jth Journal of Transport & Health http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2016.10.004 2214-1405/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: christopher.standen@sydney.edu.au (C. Standen), melanie.crane@sydney.edu.au (M. Crane), andrew.collins@sydney.edu.au (A. Collins), stephen.greaves@sydney.edu.au (S. Greaves), chris.rissel@sydney.edu.au (C. Rissel). Journal of Transport & Health ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎ Please cite this article as: Standen, C., et al., Determinants of mode and route change following the opening of a new cycleway in Sydney, Australia. Journal of Transport & Health (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2016.10.004i