Recreate Your Commute: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior on Cycling as Transportation

Abstract

Increasing cycling for transportation has been shown to be instrumental in addressing current health, transportation, mobility, and environmental sustainability issues. The Recreate Your Commute project is a social marketing campaign comprised of a series of twenty-two interpretive signs and a website designed to promote the use of cycling for transportation and safe road sharing. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), it addresses the cultural and personal beliefs and barriers that hinder participation and decrease safety. A pilot of the signs suggests the application of the TPB to interpretation is an effective means of influencing beliefs, and therefore behavior. While more research is needed, this project demonstrates a means to encourage engagement and promote behavior change (i.e., decrease vandalism, increase the use of Leave No Trace principles). This has important implications in the fields of natural resource management and recreation.