Photo: Chris Southwood/City of Sydney
The improving bike routes of Sydney are continuing to attract a growing diversity of riders, new data reveals.
These insights come from demographic surveys carried out in March by the City of Sydney in collaboration with Bicycle Network.
The surveys took place during mornings and evenings commute at a sample of sites in the city centre and in Newtown, Pyrmont, Zetland, Surry Hills and Glebe.
There was an increase of 19% in rider numbers compared to last year, from 4804 to 5722. And parents, children and women appear to big winners from the City of Sydney’s ongoing investment in bike infrastructure.
The number of people riding with a child seat has doubled, growing to 178 from the 90 recorded at the same sites last year. Meanwhile, the proportion of women riding increased from 20% to 23%.
Credit: Andrew Booth/City of Sydney
“The bike is as fast as driving with half the stress and traffic,” says Sydney worker Mike Blackmore. “Riding is almost twice as fast as the bus and has added incidental exercise to my day. With the electric assist, I can choose how hard I need to push the pedals.
“The kids love the bike and it doubles as a vehicle for weekend adventures to parks, playgrounds and the beach … I’ve loved that I see other families commuting while we're out on the bike. It feels like we've joined a community.”
The proportion of delivery riders increased from 7.6% to 11%, while the proportion of trips completed by e-scooter stayed around the same at 2.5%.
“We know lots of people want to ride, but don’t feel safe enough on the roads,” says Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore. “That’s why we build bike paths, because it makes cycling a genuine transport option for so many in our community.”
In its draft budget released last month, the City of Sydney allocated a further $25 million in upgrades to its bike network, prioritising the proposed cycleway along Oxford Street west and extension of the Castelreagh Street cycleway.
“Since 2007, we have built 25km of safe, separated cycleways and these new figures show that if you build it, they will come," says Moore.
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