INFLUENCE OF CLIMATIC VARIABLES ON CYCLISTS FLOW IN BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL

Abstract

Many factors can determine one’s choice to use the bicycle. These factors may vary according to the individual's socioeconomic profile and characteristics of the environment such as the climate. The impact of the climate on cycling can be complex since factors related to comfort can play an important role in the decision to bike and cyclists are completely exposed to weather conditions. Thus, this paper proposes to analyze the main climatic variables that influence the flow of cyclists in the city of Belo Horizonte. The variables tested were temperature, humidity, precipitation and cloudiness. The variables that showed the best result to explain variability in the flow of cyclists were humidity and precipitation. The model found a high explanatory power for the humidity in which the willingness to cycle increases as the relative humidity increases between 30% and 50%. The model also suggests that rain is a significant factor where for each 1mm increase in rainfall there is a 0.75% drop in the number of cyclists. This work highlights the importance of the public sector to consider climatic variables in urban planning and in the construction of mobility public policies.