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Cyclists in Berlin's Tiergarten: High school graduates have doubled their driving time since 1996
Photo: imageBROKER/Karl-Heinz Spremberg / imago images/imagebroker
According to the findings of a scientist, the higher educated in particular often use the bicycle.
City dwellers with a high school diploma cycled an average of 70 minutes a week in 2018, compared to only 42 minutes per week.
The difference was not that big in rural areas, but even there, people with a higher level of education rode their bikes more often.
The sociologist Ansgar Hudde from the University of Cologne has published two studies on the subject in specialist magazines.
His evaluations are based on representative data from the German mobility panel for the years 1996 to 2018 and from the “Mobility in Germany 2017” study by the Federal Ministry of Transport.
The data sets list all the routes taken by more than 55,000 respondents and the means of transport they used to do so.
In total, about 800,000 routes are involved.
In 1996 the education groups were still close together
Hudde said he included background information about the respondents in his analysis to test whether the link between education and cycling might just be a spurious correlation. »People who work shifts may only ride their bikes less often because it's too uncomfortable at night. But even if I statistically take into account such factors as distance, age, income and place of residence, the educational difference remains.«
In 1996, the different educational groups were still close together when it came to using bicycles, said Hudde.
But since then the two groups have drifted apart.
"The group with higher education has doubled the time they cycled since 1996." It also plays a role that the bicycle now has a clear message attached to it.
On a blind date, for example, you can say a lot about yourself just by coming by bike – and not in a big SUV.
For people with a lower level of education, a car is more often important to show professional success.
The higher educated, on the other hand, ran less risk of being perceived as poor or unsuccessful.
»When a professor comes to the university by bike, no one thinks, 'Oh, she can't afford a car.' They think: 'Cool, she's environmentally friendly.'"
Another example is Cem Özdemir, who rode his bike to the Federal President when he was sworn in as Minister.
"Everyone knows the S-Class could drive," Hudde said.
'But he's concerned with the message.
And that is understood.«
fdi/dpa