title: Implementing a Public Bicycle Share Program: Impact on Perceptions and Support for Public Policies for Active Transportation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Favorable public opinion and support for policies are essential to favor the sustainability of environmental interventions. This study examined public perceptions and support for active living policies associated with implementing a public bicycle share program (PBSP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Two cross-sectional population-based telephone surveys were conducted in 2009 and 2010 among 5011 adults in Montréal, Canada. Difference-in-differences analyses tested the impact of the PBSP on negative perceptions of the impact of the PBSP on the image of the city, road safety, ease of traveling, active transportation, health, and resistance to policies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  People living closer to docking stations were less likely to have negative perceptions of the effect of the PBSP on the image of the city (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8) and to be resistant to policies (OR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.6-1.0). The likelihood of perceiving negative effects on road safety increased across time (OR = 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2-1.8). Significant interactions were observed for perceptions of ease of traveling (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8), active transportation (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-1.0), and health (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8): likelihood of negative perceptions decreased across time among people exposed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings indicate that negative perceptions were more likely to abate among those living closer to the PBSP.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, and the School of Public Health, Dept of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bélanger-Gravel
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gauvin
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Drouin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001642:Bicycling; D002170:Canada; D002947:Cities; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011639:Public Opinion; D011640:Public Policy; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*; D014195:Travel