A new survey is offering valuable insights into the diversity of bike riders in the City of Sydney.
Bicycle Network partnered with the city to study seven key sites across the council area in late March, to better understand the demographics of bike riders, and their behavior. See the map below.
A total of 4804 riders were recorded across the seven sites, 20% were women.
The highest proportion of women riders was recorded at Wilson Street (29%), and the lowest proportion (15%) per each were recorded at O’Dea Avenue and Gadigal Avenue site and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Food delivery riders represented over one fifth of riders at the Mary-Ann Street and Jones Street intersection and at the corner of O’Dea Avenue and Gadigal Avenue.
The biggest numbers of e-scooters and e-skateboards (45 or 5%) were recorded at Pyrmont Bridge Road.
At the O’Dea and Gadigal Street site, 13 bikes (4%) had children on board.
Information gained from the Custom Rider Demographic Surveys allows the City of Sydney to better understand demographics of riders and determine what infrastructure changes and bike riding programs should be implemented to make riding accessible for more people.
Surveys took place on the morning peak of Tuesday 28 March and the afternoon peak of Wednesday 29 March, which were key locations nominated by active transport planners.
Data collection involves counters noting bike rider information at each site, including an estimate of the rider’s gender, where the person was riding (i.e. cycleway, road, footpath), and other characteristics such as the type of rider (share bike, e-scooter, bike with child seat, delivery rider) and whether the riders wore helmets.
The surveys provide compelling baseline data that can reveal changes in rider types as the ridership increases and the riding community continues to diversify. Recording the diversity of riders enables councils to gain better insights into where changes are needed to promote greater inclusivity and better riding conditions for everyone.
Main image; Adam Hollingworth/City of Sydney
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