Business Administration / Διοίκηση Επιχειρήσεων (Μ.Β.Α)

This study investigates a series of factors affecting the intention for active travelling in Cyprus in the post COVID-19 period to get an insight towards the correct path of making and implementing decisions to monitor and incorporate changes in active travel behavior and adapt to the new conditions the pandemic has imposed in our society. This study is designed to help policy makers to take actions and implement policies for promoting active travel in Cyprus. A stated preference survey was distributed online using Google Forms soliciting 152 respondents from the target age group of 18 to 70 years old. Exploratory analysis on the socio-demographic data and the travel characteristics of the population in Cyprus revealed that Cypriots are dependent on private vehicle for their travels, however active travelling (walking and cycling) is particularly popular for shopping, educational purposes, personal business, and social/recreational purposes and more people prefer walking over public transportation especially since the outbreak of the pandemic. In addition, results indicate that active travel is more popular for commuting to work for people who live in urban areas rather than suburban or rural areas. Moreover, the statistical analysis conducted revealed correlations between the different factors affecting the intention for active travelling. In total, five relationships (components) occurred through factor analysis, three of which comprising 3 study variables, one comprising 4 study variables and one comprising 2 study variables which were grouped as “Built environment and external factors”, “Trip characteristics”, Safety, family, and travel alternatives”, “Amenities”, and “Psychological impacts”. The results show that all factors influence walking and cycling. Finally, implications, limitations and future research avenues of the study are discussed.