An interesting press release from the City of Sydney, about support for a bike path network:
Sydney loves a bike network
8 July 2010Eighty four per cent of inner Sydney residents consider a good bike network to be important, new independent research has found.
The research by Galaxy also revealed that three in four (75 per cent) Sydney residents approve the building of a new and comprehensive bike network.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said; “More and more people are appreciating the benefits of cycling, from health and fitness, to easing traffic congestion. The City is supporting this bike enthusiasm by making cycle routes safer and improving connectivity from north to south and east to west.”
Residents recognise that congestion on Sydney’s roads is a major problem (forecast to grow 23 per cent over the next 15 years), with half of those polled saying the main benefit of a cycleway network is less traffic congestion.
Residents also overwhelmingly acknowledged bike riding as a good transport option, with 73 per cent of those aged 18 – 35 years saying they would consider taking up riding, or riding more often, if a safe and convenient cycleway network is provided.
Across all age groups, the majority of residents (67 per cent) agree a safe and convenient bike network will make bike riding a more appealing transport option.
The survey also found:
· Bike riding is common in inner Sydney, with as many as one third of residents (33 per cent) riding a bike in the past three months.
· Some 45 per cent of residents aged 18-24 years and 43 per cent of men have ridden a bike within the past three months.
Five hundred residents across 14 inner Sydney council areas were surveyed for the Galaxy poll.
The City of Sydney commissioned polling is part of a continual consultation and research program started in 2006 on how bike riding is perceived and used by the community.
City of Sydney aims to see 10 per cent of all trips made by bike by 2016. To support this, the City runs free cycling courses and workshops, and is upgrading cycle routes, including 55 km of separated cycleways.
If you’ve got ideas about how to better engage with the community (like the residents of Bourke St) about cycling infrastructure, come along to our next meeting and say hi.
