Why do you ride?

Emilie CalmettesEmilie Calmettes
Emilie Calmettes
7.3.2022

A few days ago, we ran a survey in our networks. The idea was to gather a few insights about why people bike - and why they don’t. Unsurprisingly, most answers came from people who indeed do bike (only 7% told us that they don’t) and live in Finland.

I thought I’d write a short piece on what we found out this far, and how it is relevant to our work here at Vapaus.

If you're interested in helping us understand cycling habits better you can still take part in the survey here!


Between must-do errands & nature rides

Almost 70% of our respondents use their bike to commute to work and go on errands. Finnish cities like Helsinki are quite well-equipped in general, and that also applies to bike lanes (fun fact: skiing tracks around town are also part of normal services we have access to during the winter).

It is actually possible to go through the whole centre area without coming near a car. Sure, you may have to cross a couple of streets when trying to reach some remote places, but otherwise I’ve always felt pretty safe driving a bike around the city.


For all of us living inside or very near cities, it’s often a bias to see cars as the fastest option.

Cycling is also a pretty convenient way to move around when compared to cars. 


I still have painful memories of driving back and forth when moving to a new apartment and stopping at every single red light for 5 minutes. Maybe next time I’ll try moving with a cargo bike.


If you know Finland (and Finns!), you also know how close the country is to nature. Known for its “100.000 lakes”, Finland also has vast forests, reaching all the way into the capital area and the city of Helsinki. There’s no home further away from the sea or the forest than a couple of kilometres around here, and cyclists can really make the most of it. Up to 60% of our respondents answered that they cycle for fun and/or to enjoy the nature around them. 


Another common reason cited is to keep in shape. As I heard once in a user interview: “I felt like I didn’t have any time for sports, but I spent one hour in my car everyday to get to the office. Now going to the office takes a little longer, maybe 10 minutes more both ways, but I get an extra hour of activity almost daily”. 

For all of us living inside or very near cities, it’s often a bias to see cars as the fastest option.


How many bikes is too many bikes?

It was pretty amusing for me to discover that some people have more than one bicycle. As a conservative spender in that area, I had never even considered that option before joining Vapaus. You can’t drive two bikes at the same time, so what’s the point? 

You can’t drive two bikes at the same time, so what’s the point? 


Turns out that A LOT of people seem to own several bikes. I’m trying to prevent getting biassed myself as I’m nowadays surrounded by biking enthusiasts (to put it lightly), but answers to our survey seem to confirm this trend. Even if most of our respondents (75%) ride less than 50km a week, 30% of those have told us that they currently own or lease more than just one bike. Usually one is used for city errands (a cheaper, less prone to being stolen model) and the other is dedicated to longer rides in nature or, for example, sports.


The record owner in our respondents currently has 5 bikes, which is still a pretty low number if I compare it to what I hear around the office…


What about the rest of Europe?

Thanks to our international networks, we were also lucky to get a few respondents from other European countries, from Poland all the way to Spain (and even one from Australia!). 


I was personally a little bit surprised not to read any mention of theft from Western European countries, whereas it seemed to be a concern in Finland. Having grown up in France, fear of theft was always a major factor when deciding whether to go somewhere by bicycle or not. And often the decision was to avoid parking it in the city altogether, even though I never really owned a fancy bike. Since I live in Helsinki, this has rarely been a topic.

it’s increasingly important for European cities to make it easy and safe to switch to biking if we want to clean our air and be healthier.

What was quite common amongst European respondents though was the mention of the bike lanes (or lack thereof) and their state. Continue speaking up! Whether in Madrid, Paris or Parma, it’s increasingly important for European cities to make it easy and safe to switch to biking if we want to clean our air and be healthier.


Another amusing difference from the Finnish answers is of course that not many other countries experience the same snow amounts and cold temperatures as we do. Even all the way down south in Helsinki, it’s quite unsafe to ride a bicycle for at least a few months in the winter without proper gear. So there I did not find any mentions of “Well I only don’t bike during the snow season…


Safety on the road

Besides weather-based excuses and theft, some of our respondents have mentioned not feeling safe when riding. Whether they are not especially skilled with biking or just enjoy a more relaxed environment, it can be frightening to ride along more reckless cyclists who might not be prepared for uncertainty and sudden movements.


So if you’re lucky enough to be comfortable riding fast in the cities, I think this note was for you: “Don’t use the whole lane or road because you’re training. This is rude and dangerous.


Thanks everyone for all the insights! It’s really important for us to understand your motivations to make good moves everyday - regardless of who you are or where you live. It helps us design better products and services to make sure that in the future it’ll easy for all to always be able to choose cycling.


Looking forward to hearing more about why you ride - or why you don’t.


Haven’t answered yet? The survey link remains available here.


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