Cycling in the dark – the impact of Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time on bicycle ridership

Abstract The European Union is in the process of abolishing the bi-annual clock change. Against this backdrop, we analyze how daylight and twilight affect the sustainable transport mode of cycling, and find that better daylight conditions generally lead to higher levels of cycling. The extent of this effect depends on the type of traffic and the time of day. An all-year implementation of Daylight Saving Time would then lead to an increase in overall cycling levels of around 3.14 %–3.37 %, compared to an all-year Standard Time. This would imply an increase of around 1.27–1.36 billion cycled kilometers per year in Germany alone. Additionally, we provide monetary estimates for the external effects of such changes in cycling levels.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  PNAS Nexus

• Publication date

  2022-03-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgab006PMID 36712787PMCID 9802456
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The climate change mitigation effects of daily active travel in cities

  2021cited by this paper
• Using weather forecasts to forecast whether bikes are used

  2020cited by this paper
• A whole-year approach showing that ambient light level influences walking and cycling

  2019cited by this paper
• The long term impact of Daylight Saving Time regulations in daily life at several circles of latitude

  2019cited by this paper
• Daylight Saving Time and Artificial Time Zones – A Battle Between Biological and Social Times

  2019cited by this paper
• Spring Forward, Don't Fall Back: The Effect of Daylight Saving Time on Road Safety

  2019cited by this paper
• The Social Cost of Automobility, Cycling and Walking in the European Union

  2019cited by this paper
• Cycling towards a more sustainable transport future

  2017cited by this paper
• Using the daylight savings clock change to show ambient light conditions significantly influence active travel

  2017cited by this paper
• A pilot study of road lighting, cycle lighting and obstacle detection

  2017cited by this paper
• Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes

  2016cited by this paper
• Under the Cover of Darkness: How Ambient Light Influences Criminal Activity

  2015cited by this paper
• Daylight saving time as a potential public health intervention: an observational study of evening daylight and objectively-measured physical activity among 23,000 children from 9 countries

  2014cited by this paper
• Classification of Bicycle Traffic Patterns in Five North American Cities

  2013cited by this paper
• Estimating annual average daily bicyclists and analyzing cyclist safety at urban intersections

  2012cited by this paper
• A new method for assessing the risk of accident associated with darkness.

  2009cited by this paper
• Does Daylight Saving Time Save Energy? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Indiana

  2008cited by this paper
• Rain event properties in nature and in rainfall simulation experiments: a comparative review with recommendations for increasingly systematic study and reporting

  2008cited by this paper
• The effects of daylight and daylight saving time on US pedestrian fatalities and motor vehicle occupant fatalities.

  2004cited by this paper
• Perceptions of safety at night in different lighting conditions

  2000cited by this paper
• Evidence from Tropical Raindrop Spectra of the Origin of Rain from Stratiform versus Convective Clouds

  1996cited by this paper
• Daylight saving time and motor vehicle crashes: the reduction in pedestrian and vehicle occupant fatalities.

  1995cited by this paper

• Social media analysis reflects the negative sentiments experienced at both time changes with somewhat more depressive impact in early fall.

  2026cites this paper
• Daylight saving time and fatal crashes: The impact of changing light conditions.

  2025cites this paper
• More afraid of the virus than of bad weather? Exploring the link between weather conditions and cycling volume in German cities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

  2024cites this paper
• Variance in odds ratios for estimating the deterrent effect of darkness on cycling: Variation due to the choice of case and control hours

  2024cites this paper
• Analyzing the Behavior and Growth of Cycling in Four North American Cities Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

  2023cites this paper
• The controversy over daylight saving time: evidence for and against

  2023cites this paper
• Quantifying the relationship between mobility patterns and socioeconomic status of dockless bike-sharing users

  2022cites this paper
• The effect of changes in light level on the numbers of cyclists

  2021cites this paper
• No Need for Speed: Fuel Prices, Driving Speeds, and the Revealed Value of Time on the German Autobahn

  year unknowncites this paper