The Greater Hobart Household Travel Survey has been released and shows a big jump in bike trips over the past five years, especially for older Tasmanians.
The number of trips taken by bicycle increased 55% across the seven local government areas, with bigger increases outside the Hobart municipality, 68% compared to 50%.
The past five years can be characterised by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cycling and our work habits.
The COVID-19 lockdown reignited people’s interest in bicycles and many bought bikes or got old ones fixed up. It has also led to an increase in people working from home.
The survey found that 21.2% of survey respondents had worked from home at least once in the previous week. Despite this, there was still a 27% increase in bike trips for work.
E-bikes have also come down in price over the past five years and there are more models available, including cargo e-bikes which help people carry children, groceries and work gear.
Cost of living pressures means swapping car trips for e-bikes is an easy way to save money or get rid of the financial burden of a second car.
Some of the more interesting findings in the survey for trips by bicycle are:
- The number of girls aged 0-17 riding has skyrocketed, increasing by 600%, while the number of boys riding has remained stable.
- The number of trips taken by people aged 65 and over increased 167%
- The number of trips for all people aged 36 and over increased by 104%
- But the number of trips taken by people aged 18-35 dropped by 5.5%.
- The number of trips for education increased 250%.
- The number of trips for social and recreational reasons increased by 127%.
The survey results are available in a dashboard on the Department of State Growth website: www.transport.tas.gov.au/managing_the_roads/traffic_in_tasmania/greater_hobart_household_travel_survey
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