Surveying Silicon Valley

 With funding from the County of Santa Clara and in partnership with the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition published the first ever public opinion poll focused on travel behavior and bicycling in Santa Clara County. All surveying took place in early 2020.  

Goals of the survey 

  • Benchmarking public attitudes towards bicycling and transportation

  • Creating a data set upon which progress can be measured over time

  • Tailoring the study so that data can be analyzed through all sorts of different demographics with a focus on ethnicity and gender

  • Providing accurate information upon which public policy decisions can be made

The Report and Data

The results provide a treasure trove of information to help understand people’s transportation choices and inform transportation decisions. 

Interesting Takeaways

To peak your interest, here are a few interesting nuggets that should help inform the work of transportation planners, elected officials and advocates:

  • Speed is the top factor people use to determine their transportation mode.

  • #2 is safety from crime which is rated much higher by women, and in particular minority women.

  • Overall, 50% of people say they would like to drive less with the exception of Trump voters and men of LatinX descent.

  • If you rode a bike as a child and kept riding through the teenage years, you are much more likely to ride as an adult. This speaks to the importance of public investment in Safe Routes to Schools programs, in particular those that carry on through high school.

  • While 50-60% of respondents are reluctant to curb capacity for driving, 30% are not okay with lowering speeds, which creates safer streets for all users.

  • The “cool” factor is not really a determinant in whether people ride a bike or not.

  • How we build our cities matters. Those who live in more urban areas where shopping, school, and amenities are within biking distance, ride more.

 

Enjoy getting in the weeds with all the great info on why people make their transportation decisions and what we can do to get them to ride bikes more.