Austroads report

Chris Gxxx Jul 24 11:32AM +0800  

Austroads has just released National Cycling Strategy: Implementation Report 2013 (https://www.onlinepublications.austroads.com.au/items/AP-C93-14 but you have to register or log in) which evaluates the success of Australia's strategy to increase cycling. It's just over 5mb so I won't burden this email with an attachment but I can email it to anyone who wants it but has trouble getting a download.
 
The document pretty well confirms participation points I've made at http://www.cycle-helmets.com/cycling-1985-2013.html, primarily that Australian cycling participation (percentage who cycled in the past week) fell from 17.8% in 2011 to 16.6% in 2013. I've calculated that 1.2% reduction to represent just over 300,000 fewer cyclists, which is why the media continues to be full of stories about how cycling is booming in Australia.
 
The National Cycling Strategy aims to promote and increase cycling in Australia from 2011 to 2016 but a 1.2% reduction in the first half of the strategy suggests it's so far been an abject failure. The latest Austroads document maintains the theme of all official publications by not mentioning helmets, by far and away the main barrier to increased participation in this country. Actually, the word "helmet" is used once in the Austroads document but just in a bullet point referring to the recommendation by Queensland's parliamentary committee for a relaxation of helmet laws - that tiny sniff of hope that was snuffed out by Queensland's Transport Minister.
 
Apart from that, the Austroads report has 52 pages with some interesting data re all sorts of cycling issues in different states.
 
Cheers!
Chris xxx__