User Groups and Perceived Barriers to Private Cargo Bike Mobility - The role of Adoption Stages, Mobility Patterns and Spatial Contexts

Sammanfattning

Cargo bikes are increasingly being recognised as an important lever for more sustainable urban mobility in both commercial and private domains. However, the uptake of cargo biking in private mobility falls short of its actual potential. This thesis examines the role of socio-demographic, mobility and spatial preconditions on cargo bike adoption processes in private mobility. It further explores how user groups in different stages to cargo bike adoption vary in their perceptions of cargo bike suitability and adoption barriers. In doing this, the study goes beyond a dichotomous perspective of ‘the cargo bike user’ and ‘the non-user’ and responds to calls for more fine-grain analytical distinctions. The study builds on a conceptual framework that integrates Bamberg’s Stage Model of Self-Regulated Behavioural Change with spatiality and constraint-based theoretical approaches. A cross-sectional research design was applied, using a self-administered online questionnaire. The survey was conducted in the metropolitan area of Gothenburg, Sweden. The findings reveal that higher adoption stages are not only associated with specific socio-demographic characteristics, such as age and parenthood, but are further influenced by mobility patterns and spatial context, particularly the parking space suitability for cargo bikes. Parking facilities at home and destinations emerged as a key barrier to cargo bike adoption, alongside limited personal experience knowledge. The findings further reveal that barrier perceptions are not static, but instead vary substantially across the adoption process. The study, hence, provides valuable insights for the development of targeted interventions that are better aligned with the specific needs, perceptions and spatial realities of individuals at different behavioural stages. Overall, the thesis contributes to existing literature by offering a more differentiated, stage-sensitive understanding of cargo bike adoption and by examining the role of spatial context, particularly parking facilities, for a wider uptake of cargo biking in private mobility.