Bike commuting is on the rise around Australia, new analysis of Bicycle Network’s Super Tuesday data shows.
The results reveal an increase in every state where counts took place, and an average growth of 6% across the country.
Of the 143,000 trips logged during the Super Tuesday morning commute on 5 March, 135,000 were made by bike. 8000 were made by e-scooter.
This amount of bike trips is a promising sign of active commuting habits returning to normalcy after the pandemic, following 2023 results which were largely flat across the country.
The clearest signs of this post-pandemic bounce were observed in Tasmania, which recorded 48% growth, (though the state experienced more favourable riding weather on Super Tuesday this year, compared to last). Read more about the results in Tasmania here.
A large increase in bike commuting was also seen in NSW, which recorded a 28% growth.
Upticks were also seen in South Australia (11%), Western Australia (1%) and Victoria (4%).
Positive signs were also seen in Melbourne, where an increase of 7% was recorded at 20 high-volume sites across the inner city.
This growth is more notable in the context of ongoing disruptions to a number of bike routes in and out of the Melbourne CBD, and some negative publicity around the city's bike lane program in some sectors of the media.
“This growth seen on Super Tuesday is a wonderful sign that people right across Australia are recognising the benefits of active transport and beginning their day in the best way possible: with a bike ride,” says Bicycle Network CEO Alison McCormack.
"While we have seen sharper upticks in other years, the growth of 6% across the country is significant. We know, for example, that at an annual growth rate of 7% the number of bike riders on the street would double within a decade. The future is bright.”
More than 1000 volunteer counters took part in Super Tuesday 2024, taking up positions at more than 961 sites around Australia to collect data on active transport.
The 2024 count also included e-bike data for the first time, which revealed that e-bikes accounted for 11% of all bike trips across the country.
Women made up more than one in three e-bike riders. E-bikes accounted for 16% of all trips completed by women, and 9% of the trips completed by men.
Read more about our e-bike data here. And read more about our e-bike campaign here.
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