Australia
Influencing Factors
- All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go?: A Qualitative Research Study of the Barriers and Enablers to Cycling in Inner Sydney
Daley, Michelle; Rissel, Chris; Lloyd, Beverley, Road & Transport Research: [A Journal of Australian and New Zealand Research and Practice] Volume 16 Issue 4 (Dec 2007)
There is considerable capacity to increase community levels of cycling in Sydney. This qualitative study aimed to explore factors that influence personal decisions to initiate and maintain cycling, or not to cycle, in inner Sydney, and to identify differences according to current cycling behaviour.
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Benefits of Cycling
- Inverse associations between cycling to work, public transport, and overweight and obesity: Findings from a population based study in Australia
Li Ming Wen, Chris Rissel, (2007) Preventive Medicine 46 (2008) 29–32, Health Promotion Service, Sydney South West Area Health Service
The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between various modes of transport to work and overweight and obesity, in men and women.
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- Universities and the cycling culture
Jennifer Bonham, Barbara Koth (2010) Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Volume 15, Issue 2, March 2010, Pages 94-102
Environmental analysis consistently shows transport as being amongst the top three contributors to a university’s ecological footprint. This paper reports on a study undertaken at the Mawson Lakes Campus of the University of South Australia into cycling as a sustainable transport option. First, the paper analyzes the campus as a text: an artifact which addresses a particular audience and is actively read and interpreted by those who travel through it. In reading the campus, we go beyond examining levels of cycling infrastructure provision to consider the way infrastructure provision constitutes and positions different travelers as (ab)normal. Second, the paper looks at different groups of cyclists on campus, why some commuted to university and others did not and the experiences of each of these groups. It is found that cyclists are largely written out of the Mawson Lakes text which challenges their legitimacy as travelers and as users of campus space. The research also found substantial differences between groups of commuter and non-commuter cyclists and this division fell along staff and student lines. We conclude by suggesting ways that this and other universities might legitimize cyclists and facilitate cycling as a mode of travel.
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- Cycling for active transport and recreation in Australia: Status review and future directions
Rissel, C., Garrard, J., 2006, Vol. 13, p. 49 – 63, World Transport Policy and Practice, UK.
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Engineering and Planning
- Melbourne Bicycle Account - Cycling Census 2007 - this document provides an over view of the status of cycling infrastructure and user satisfaction in Melbourne.
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Cycling is no longer the domain of kids, students, lycra-clad adrenalin seekers and those that can’t afford a car. Melbourne’s cycling culture is as rich and diverse as the city itself. In a climate of rising petrol prices, diminishing oil supplies and global warming, cycling performs an important transport role in Melbourne. The City of Melbourne aims to be one of the best cycling cities in the world. It will continue to highlight cyclists and the Melbourne Bicycle Account will keep check annually on the city’s cycling resurgence. - Rose, G., 2003, Bikes and travel behaviour change – a transport engineers perspective, Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University, Melbourne. Presentation at Connecting Cycling, Canberra, 20 - 21 November.
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This presentation explores the balance between travel behaviour change program such as TravelSmart, with other methods of encouragement, such as bicycle infrastructure improvements. - Ker, I., Huband, A., Veith, G., Taylor, J., 2006, Pedestrian-cyclist conflict minimisation on shared paths and footpaths, Research Report, Austroads, Sydney.
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This report investigates actual and potential conflict between cyclists and pedestrians. It outlines best practice solutions to minimise the potential for conflict between these modes of travel. These solutions cover engineering, traffic management and urban design concepts, as well as education and awareness strategies. - Katz, R., 2001, Forecasting demand for bicycle facilities, Austroads, Sydney.
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This report offers a review of the various methods used to forecast demand for bicycle infrastructure. It outlines the relative benefits and limitations of each method. - Australian Bicycle Council, website, Green Bicycle Lanes: Background, Australian practice and your feedback
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Introductory information covering the benefits of and the evidence for coloured bicycle lanes, as a means of improving road safety. This webpage outlines the current status of coloured bicycle lanes in most Australian states and the territories. - Austroads, 2001, Traffic flow models allowing for pedestrians and cyclists, Austroads, Sydney.
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This document begins by reviewing the literature on safety and mobility issues for pedestrians and cyclists. An investigation of traffic models is then undertaken, with particular attention given to pedestrians and cyclists. - Rose, G., 2003, Bikes and travel behaviour change – a transport engineers perspective, Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University, Melbourne. Presentation at Connecting Cycling, Canberra, 20 - 21 November.
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This presentation explores the balance between travel behaviour change program such as TravelSmart, with other methods of encouragement, such as bicycle infrastructure improvements. - Dodson, J., Sipe, N., 2006, Shocking the suburbs: Urban location, housing debt and oil vulnerability in the Australian city, Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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Shocking the suburbs outlines the vulnerability of Australian communities to rising fuel prices, automobile dependence and housing debt. It has important implications for land use planning, with particular emphasis on the creation of communities less dependent on motor vehicles and an increased role for the bicycle. - Dodson J., Sipe, N., 2005, Oil vulnerability in the Australian city, Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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Oil vulnerability in the Australian city documents the precarious position, particularly of outer suburban communities to future rises in the price of petrol. It provides a strong case for improvements to land use and transport planning that increase mode choice for the less dominant transport forms of walking, cycling and public transport. - Vigitcanlar, T., Dodson, J., Gleeson, B., 2005, Sustainable Australia: Containing travel in master planned estates, Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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This paper examines the relationship between urban form and travel pattern. It explains how land use planning can have a strong influence on travel behaviour – with high density, mixed use development acting to reduce car use and promoting alternative modes, including cycling, due to lower trip distances. It recommends a refocus of transports goal, from mobility to accessibility. - Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, 2001, Integrating Land Use and Transport: Improving Transport Choice – Guidelines for planning and development, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, NSW Government, Sydney.
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Integrating Land Use and Transport covers a broad range of contemporary urban planning issues related to transport, including cycling. A strong emphasis is placed on planning with the aim of creating a wide variety of transport choices, with the view of reducing car use. - Queensland Transport, 2006, Bicycle riding and new subdivision design, Queensland Transport, Queensland Government, Brisbane.
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Highlights the importance of considering factors affecting cyclist’s amenity in the development of subdivisions. An important introductory resource for local government and developers. - Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2005, Safer Design Guidelines for Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
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The Safer Design Guidelines for Victoria aim to assist government bodies, developers, designers and property owners by providing them with the information required to create environments that improve both actual and perceived safety. Many of the key concepts support the development of bicycle friendly design, due to cycling’s positive effect on community safety in such areas as passive surveillance. - Austroads, 2001, Traffic flow models allowing for pedestrians and cyclists, Austroads, Sydney.
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This document begins by reviewing the literature on safety and mobility issues for pedestrians and cyclists. An investigation of traffic models is then undertaken, with particular attention given to pedestrians and cyclists. - Roads and Traffic Authority, 2005, NSW Bicycle Guidelines, Roads and Traffic Authority, Government of New South Wales, Sydney.
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This document is a detailed design manual covering a wide variety of infrastructure design issues. It is an important document for road designers, engineers and planners involved in the development of bicycle infrastructure. - Victoria Transport Policy Institute, 2007, Bicycle Parking: Bicycle Parking, Storage and Change Facilities, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Canada.
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This document offers a comprehensive guide to the multitude of factors requiring consideration when developing end of trip facilities. Provides a detailed description of the difference between short and long term bike parking and methods for estimating demand. - Ker, I., Yapp, S., Moore, P., 2005, Bus-Bike Interaction with the Road Network, Research Report, Austroads, Sydney.
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This report reviews the interaction between buses and bicycles within the road network and identifies measures to reduce the potential for conflict. - VicRoads, website, Cycling data and statistics
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An important introductory site to bicycle statistics for Victoria. Contains information on why collecting data is useful, cycle to work reports, the loop counter program and cycling in Melbourne 1976 – 2001. - VicRoads, 2001, Cycling to work in Melbourne 1976 - 2001, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
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Cycling to work in Melbourne is the most comprehensive report on work related cycle trips in Victoria. - VicRoads, 1999, Cycling in Melbourne: Bicycle ownership, use and demographics, 1997 – 1999, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
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This report outlines a number of key statistics on bicycle ownership and use in Melbourne, to serve as a practical, accessible and informative guide for anyone involved in transport planning in Melbourne. It may also serve as a useful starting point for those wishing to develop a cycling data resource manual for other areas. - Roads and Traffic Authority, 2003, Cycling in Sydney: bicycle ownership and use, New South Wales Government, Sydney
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A snap shot of Sydney’s bicycle ownership and usage levels, including the role of the bicycle in Sydney’s transport system. - Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (SA), website, Cycling facts and figures
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The site provides information on the number of cyclists entering Adelaide’s CBD in the AM peak hour over a number of years. - Abrahams,H. 2002, "Has the Goodwill Bridge induced walking and cycling trips for commuting to Brisbane's central business district?" - Thesis for post graduate research at the University of New England, Armidale.
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- Environmetrics - social and market research (2006) "Sydney cycling research: internet survey" for City Of Sydney
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Analysis of the internet survey data has provided us with some interesting insights into the different cyclist segments – who they are, their current attitudes to cycling and opportunities for targeting Potential Cyclist markets. - Environmetrics - social and market research (2007), "Sydney cycling research: focus groups" for City Of Sydney
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overall objective of the research is to provide information to inform the delivery of the social initiatives within the cycle strategy. - Bauman, A. Rissel, C. Garrard, J. Ker, I. Speidel, R. and Fishman, E. (2008) Cycling: Getting Australia Moving: Barriers, facilitators and interventions to get more Australians physically active through cycling, Cycling Promotion Fund, Melbourne
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Executive Summary (1.7 Mb)
In August 2007, the Cycling Promotion Fund was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to develop a report on bicycle participation by Australian adults.
The Cycling Promotion Fund was specifically asked to investigate the contribution cycling can make to the health of adult Australians, what barriers exist to increasing participation and what can be done to overcome these hurdles.
The Cycling Promotion Fund engaged four notable academics/practitioners from the fields of health, transport and economics to address these questions.
Tourism
- Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities - Cycle Tourism Research Project: The Research Tool Kit for the Cycle Tourism Resource Kit for Regional Communities
Chief Investigators:Professor John Martin, Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities, La Trobe University and Associate Professor Sue Beeton, La Trobe University
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CTA is aiming to provide regional communities involved with the development and maintenance of cycle trails with four Cycle Tourism Resource Kits. The fourth kit is an online research tool kit that will enable these communities 'to measure, get feedback and enhance the future of cycle tourism'. Professor Martin and Associate Professor Beeton are responsible for researching and developing Tool Kit 4: The Research Tool Kit. - Sustainable Regional Tourism Destination Project
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- Progress Report - October 2006(pdf)
- Project background
- Target destinations
- Researcher profiles
- Faulks, P., Ritchie, B. & Fluker, M. (2007) Cycle Tourism in Australia: an investigation into its size and scope, Co-operative Research Centre
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A scoping study was undertaken over a short time frame to investigate the size and scope of cycle tourism in Australia and to provide research recommendations in order to address research gaps identified.
Transport Planning
- Bonham, J. & Jungho, S. (2008) Pedalling the city: intra-urban differences in cycling for the journey-to-work, pp. 25-40 ARRB - Road & Transport Research Vol 17 No 4 Dec 2008
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This paper is available for purchase from ARRB Group - Edwards, T & Smith, S (2008), Transport problems facing large cities, Briefing Paper No. 6/08, NSW Parliamentary Library
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This paper considers the problems facing transport policy in large cities. As the world’s
cities have become home to the vast majority of their national population, governments are faced with the challenge of providing transport infrastructure to accommodate the needs of their citizens. In many of the world’s largest cities, the majority of travel is by private car, which poses two problems – road congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. - New, C. & Rissel, C. (2008) Cycling to Work in Sydney - analysis of journey to work Censis data from 2001-2006, Health Promotion Service, Sydney South West Area Health Service
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The present analyses were conducted to examine whether there have been changes in levels of cycling in Sydney between the 2001 and 2006 Census, extending an earlier analysis of data from the 1996 and 2001 Census. Data on the journey to work from both Censuses were purchased from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Use of a bicycle on any part of the journey to work was coded as ‘bicycle used’. Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) in the Sydney area were coded as Inner Sydney if they were within 10 kilometres of Central Station in Sydney, Outer Sydney for the remaining Sydney SLAs and the rest as the Greater Metropolitan Region including the SLAs in Newcastle and Wollongong.
Statistical Data
- Walking and Cycling: Census analysis, Report based on analysis of Census data, prepared by Bartley Consulting pty Ltd (September 2008) for Dr Evelyn Légaré, Department of Transport - Walking and Cycling Branch Level 15, 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
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- Melbourne City Council, Melbourne Bicycle Account – Cycling Census 2007
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The Bicycle Account reports the progress of the City of Melbourne’s Bike Plan 2007-2011. It is a summary of cyclist behaviour, a snap-shot of infrastructure and safety standards and a cyclist opinion survey. With cycling growing and evolving at such a rate Council has committed to an annual Melbourne Bicycle Account. This is the first of these annual publications. - Melbourne City Council, Melbourne Bicycle Account: Cycling Census 2008
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The City of Melbourne is committed to promoting and supporting sustainable transport in the city. To ensure our actions do promote and support the use of bicycles in the city, we need to measure cycling activity and trends. Results show us what we do well and what we need to work on in the future.
As with the 2007 version, the 2008 Melbourne Bicycle Account includes a summary of city cyclist behaviour, a snapshot of the City of Melbourne’s actions in improving cyclist infrastructure and safety, as well as results from the City of Melbourne and Bicycle Victoria’s joint 2008 Melbourne Bikescope Survey.
Road Safety
- Riding with the sharks: Serious leisure cyclist's perceptions of sharing the road with motorists
Justen P. O’Connor, Trent D. Brown (2010) Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 53-58
As serious leisure cyclists increase their presence on Australian public roads, there have been reports within the popular and mainstream literature of a growing tension between these cyclists and other road users. Until now, there has been limited research exploring the relationship between serious leisure cyclists and other road users as it pertains to issues of safety and motivations to cycle for leisure. This mixed methods research provides insights into a particular cohort of serious leisure cyclists and their experiences of sharing the roads with motorists. Analysis reveals a range of concerns amongst this sub-group, mediated by factors such as age, experience and environment. The paper calls for a differential focus on sub-groups of cyclists when considering policy formation, regulation and safe provision for cyclists on roads.
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New Zealand
Engineering & Planning
- ViaStrada Ltd (2008) "Cycle counting in New Zealand", Land Transport New Zealand, Visit Site

Webpage break down of the research - Visit Site
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Land Transport New Zealand commissioned ViaStrada Ltd to undertake an international literature review of technologies for counting cycle traffic continuously (for several months or more) and to survey all local and regional councils and Transit New Zealand offices about their experience with various types of cycle traffic counting, including continuous, automatic and manual counts.
Section 2 of this report considers equipment for continuous counting of both off-road and on-road cycle traffic. The purpose of the survey (reported in section 3) was to understand how much cycle counting is currently taking place in New Zealand and what methods are being used. - ViaStrada Ltd, (2009) "Continuous cycle counting trial", January 2009, for New Zealand Transport Agency
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The benefits of continuous cycle counting over techniques currently used in New Zealand (such as manual counting or temporary pneumatic tube counting) include being able to establish seasonal trends without having to frequently supervise a site or check and replace equipment. It is considered that continuous cycle counting will be a useful tool in monitoring cycle volumes and trends and therefore planning and designing for cycling. - Ryan, P., Boulter, R., Dorrestyn, K. & Underlien Jensen, S. (2004) Cycle network and route planning guide , Land Transport Safety Authority, New Zealand
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This guide aims to promote a consistent approach to planning the provision for cycling in New Zealand.
Encouragement and Promotion - Youth Engagement
- Horspool, B. (2007) TEMPTING TEENAGERS TO CYCLE - “CYCLING IS FOR EVERYONE” North Shore City Council Strategic Cycling Plan 2003, North Shore City - Local Government Authority, New Zealand
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The purpose of this study was to collect the opinions of Year 8, 9 and 10 students related to cycling to school. This was achieved through an extensive online survey of a total of 19 intermediate and secondary schools in North Shore City. Students answered the online questionnaire that contained a variety of questions related to cycling to school, including bike ownership and use, modes of travel to school, safety issues, facility issues and peer issues. A total of 2355 students, approximately 28% of the target population in North Shore City, responded to the survey.
Road Safety
- Cycle Safety: Reducing Crash Risk
Shane Turner, Shane Binder & Aaron Roozenburg(2009) NZ Transport Agency research report 389
The challenge for transport engineers and planners is to create a transportation environment that is as safe as possible for cyclists. This can be achieved through a series of measures, including, where practical, reducing traffic volumes and speeds, building on-road cycle lanes and intersection facilities, and constructing of off-roadway cycle paths. The safety benefit of most of these measures has not, to date, been quantified in New Zealand. Internationally, the research is also limited, particular in terms of the direct relationship between crashes and various roadway features and traffic conditions. This study extends previous work on the relationship between crashes and volumes of cycles and motor vehicles to the development of crash prediction models for on-roadway cycle facilities at intersections and along road links. The effects of speed and off-roadway paths have been assessed based on overseas research.
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