Research Questions and Rationale

Why do you commute via bicycle?

I asked this to get a sense of my interviewees’ motivations behind cycling to commute, and to understand what they liked about it. I also wanted to understand what other forms of transportation they used, to learn the contrasts between those and cycling. Follow up:

Do you commute via other modes of transportation?

Where do you commute - what is your route?

Can you tell me what made you decide to commute via bicycle?

Walk me through the last time you commuted via bicycle.

This question was important to ask, because it gave me a sense of the interviewees’ habits and enabled me to empathize with their experiences as cyclist commuters. Follow up:

Where were you commuting to? From?

How did you choose your route?

What time did you go?

How would you describe the environment of bicycle trails in Seattle?

I asked this question to learn about how cyclists perceive trails in the city. Knowing how these urban commuters understood their surroundings helped me to glean information related to their feelings about them. Follow up:

Who do you see on the trails? What activities are people doing (walking, running, skating, etc.)?

Tell me about your favorite section of the Burke Gilman trail. What makes it your favorite?

Tell me about a recent experience at a stop light on the Burke Gilman.

I asked this question to get a general sense of how intersections affected cyclists as they went about their commutes. It helped me have a natural flow into what frustrated them about intersections and stop lights. Follow up:

Did you wait for crossing signals to indicate ‘walk’ before cycling across?

Where did you wait? On the sidewalk? On the curb? In the street?

How did you feel when you resumed cycling?

What are some of your frustrations with intersections where trails and main roads intersect?

I asked this question to get a clear understanding of how interactions with busy roads affected cyclist commuters. I also wanted to gain an understanding of how interactions with cars made cyclists feel, as it was important to getting a sense of what did or did’t contribute to their feelings of safety or fear. Follow up:

Do the actions of cars impact how you ride?

How does crossing main roads make you feel?

When you see a red ‘do not cross’ signal, how do you go about approaching or going through an intersection?

This question helped me learn more about my interviewees’ specific behaviors related to crossing where trails and roads intersect. It also helped me learn about why people chose to obey or disobey the law.

If the signal is blinking, how do you choose whether or not to go through?

What actions do you do when you are crossing a main road?

What would you like to see changed that would make your commute feel safer?

This question got into the meat of what made a cyclist feel safe or not while they were commuting. I wanted to use this question to clarify what was at the heart of cyclist safety, and what mattered most to cyclists.

What behaviors currently make you feel unsafe?

Tell me about what you do that feels safe.

Are there specific cyclist or car behaviors you would like to see more often?