Spring 2022 Cyclovia Census highlights

On March 27, 2022 we saw our biggest Cyclovia Tucson turnout yet, as Tucsonans celebrated en masse for the first time since pre-pandemic times.

Below are highlights and benchmarks gathered through our Cyclovia Census participant survey administered in partnership with the UA’s Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows program. Together they gathered a sample of 379 surveys collected at random throughout the day and throughout the route.

Noteworthy trends + highlights:

We’re always delighted by the results gathered through the survey that help reinforce Open Streets as something that’s good for people’s health and well-being as well as for the local economy. Here are three things that we noticed in particular this spring:

1) Who attended

Normally we see about 1/3 of people are attending the event for the very first time; this time almost half of participants attended for the first time meaning that we’re reaching farther and wider with our event promotion and outreach.

2) How they got there

Over 50% of participants reported using bike, transit, or walking to and from the event, meaning that 25,000 took the plunge of an entirely car-free outing. That’s huge!—imagine if those same 25,000 people got in the habit of going car-free for a trip once a week, or better yet, one day out of every week. That would have a tremendous impact on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing traffic congestion, not to mention boosting health and well-being for 5% of Tucson’s population! (And can you imagine how money they’d save?!?)

3) Long-term changes

Two out of three participants reported that they’re more likely to walk or bike for transportation after having attended a Cyclovia event. This reinforces, for us, the power of Open Streets events to shift our perceptions about streets as public spaces, and build excitement and confidence in using and experiencing them differently in our everyday lives. That’s awesome!

What do you notice? Have a look: