Adolescents and bicycling to school: Does behaviour setting/place make a difference?

When discussing bicycling for transport, comparisons are often made with the Dutch, with people in non-bicycling countries often saying, “but we are not the Netherlands”. Such comments imply there is something innately different and unique about the Netherlands and the Dutch that results in the proportion of people bicycling being far greater than in non-bicycling countries like New Zealand. This paper uses qualitative research to compare adolescents who have grown up in non-bicycling countries and subsequently moved to the Netherlands, with adolescents who have spent their lives in New Zealand (a non-bicycling country). Similarities and differences between the two groups are considered using the Ecological Model, the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Prototype Willingness Model. Analysis shows key differences between the two places with respect to traffic safety for bicyclists, the appropriation of equipment to carry loads, the compatibility of uniforms and bike types with bicycling, and adolescent driving rates. Attitudes towards bicycling, injunctive norms related to parents, the gendering of bicycling, and cycling confidence also differed. We conclude that adolescents behaviour in relation to bicycling to school varies depending on the behaviour setting, the perceived environment and intrapersonal factors.