People preferring their bicycle over the car for short shopping trips, do so on the basis of arguments concerning health, environment, the small amount of purchases and the enjoyment of cycling. But also on traffic considerations: the speed of travel by bike, not having to look for a parking space and no parking charges to be paid.
The four other short-trip motives studied - transporting children, sports practice and clubs, going out and commuter traffic - demonstrate similar scores on the arguments to decide in favour of the bicycle or the car.
In the overall scores three partly overlapping clusters of arguments for choosing bicycle or car for a specific trip may be distinguished:
- arguments of a personal nature, hardly to be influenced by traffic or transport policies: it is healthy, good for the environment, socially safe, not much time, the weather.
- arguments that have developed thanks to current policies, although they are of a personal nature: fast, fun, habit, comfortable. If cycling would be tedious and very dangerous and only possible on a rough strip by the side of the road alongside busy and noisy car traffic, not many people would be in the habit of cycling and enjoying it. It is precisely because of good bicycle facilities that have been implemented in the past, that positive choices in favour of cycling persist. Nevertheless people often prefer to use their car for a visit to their neighbourhood shopping centre when there are plenty of, preferably free, parking spaces and only walls and flagpoles to park a bicycle against.
- arguments that are highly rational and related to the level of available infrastructure and other (traffic) facilities: speed of travel, parking opportunities, costs, feelings of safety (or not), chance of accidents, travel expenses refund.