Cycling perception in urban mobility: how low bicycle infrastructure contributes to reducing sustainable transport use

Urban transport systems in several cities worldwide are prioritizing private cars as the primary mode of transportation. Public transport and active modes are established as complementary structures for those who cannot afford their own car or for some reason decide not to have. As a consequence of this measure, public transport is low and crowded, while active modes are discouraged based on safety reasons as much as possible. The result of these public policies is chaos in urban mobility, which is potentially increased in developing countries. Brazil is no exception, and public transport services suffer from a low service level in almost all cities. Active modes (cycling and walking) suffer from the infrastructure quality – irregular and short pavements, and a lack of dedicated bike lanes. To expose this situation and to investigate how cyclists feel regarding safety during urban cycling, we analyze the situation of Suzano city, in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. A questionnaire with 20 questions was applied during December 2024 and January 2025. Our sample (n = 114) reveals that only one-fourth of respondents use bicycles for urban mobility. Moreover, there is a significant difference between gender, with around 53.5% male and 46.5% female bicycle usage (X² = 7.55, p < 0.05). Most participants reported travel time above 60 minutes, and a significant difference was observed among transport ways (X² = 28.45, p < 0.05), indicating that public transport is the preferred mode (53.5%). Furthermore, participants who did not report cycling argue that the main reasons were that they dislike cycling (28%) and do not feel safe due to the existing infrastructure (28%). In this study, we explore these results in detail and compare them with studies presented in the literature. The implications of the paper are to shed light on actions for local governments in the direction of promoting a higher use of active mobility in cities that they manage.