Potential for increasing health-beneficial participation in cycling for transportation: a “stages of change” perspective on Barcelona’s bike sharing program

Background The multiple benefits of active transportation, from non-communicable disease prevention to climate change mitigation, have led to increasing interests in developing multi-disciplinary health impact assessments (HIA) of walking and cycling strategies. However a fundamental uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of policies to change travel and physical activity behaviour remains. Our study aimed to assess the ability of bike sharing programs to facilitate contemplation and change in individuals to begin cycling for travel purposes. Methods Participants living and working or attending school in Barcelona, Spain, were recruited in the street at 40 random locations across the city. In a quasi-case control sampling design, cyclists and non-cyclists (motorists and public transport users) were targeted to account for low cycling prevalence. A questionnaire was designed to assess from a health behaviour theory perspective the “stages of change” for individuals to begin contemplating or taking action ...