On your bike Sydney!

Posted on 06 July 2011 by Cate

Support Sydney’s cycleways by writing a letter to the Roads Minister below. Simply fill in your details, add any additional comments and hit submit. If you use any of the current CBD cycleways, be sure to say so. On your bike!

Dear Minister

I noted with concern your recent comments suggesting that Sydney's cycleways are in the wrong place, that people are not using them, and that they should be moved or even removed.

The CBD cycleway network isn't finished yet. Better connectivity will increase effectiveness, but already these paths are being very well utilised. As a result of recent additions, commuting by bicycle is now a much better option for people who were previously discouraged by busy and dangerous roads.

As you are well aware, congestion is set to cost the Sydney economy $8 billion a year by 2020. This is more than any other Australian capital city. More spending on cycling will help address this.

More cycling infrastructure is not bad news for motorists. We need to be encouraging people to cycle more, reducing traffic jams and making it easier for those who do have to drive.

We need to start redesigning some of our roads so that they are much more pedestrian and cycle friendly. Please direct the RTA to start looking at more shared spaces, bike boxes, pedestrian overpasses, better connectivity of routes, better integration with public transport and end-of-trip facilities like change rooms.

Another really important benefit is community health. Apart from reducing pollution, research has shown an inverse association between rates of cycling and obesity. In countries where cycling is more common, obesity is less common.

We need to get serious about encouraging cycling. Please support Sydney's cycleways.

Yours sincerely

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8 Comments For This Post

  1. Colin Says:
    July 7th, 2011 at 12:18 am

    Cate,

    You may be interested in this very rough analysis of the usage of the Kent St cycleway:
    http://www.sydneycyclist.com/forum/topics/kent-st-cycleway-rainy-day

    The bottom line: the Kent St cycleway carries more people per square metre of road space than the ordinary traffic lanes of Kent St. Probably true for the King St and Bourke St cycleways, and definitely true foe the Union St cycleway.

  2. Gilbert Grace Says:
    July 7th, 2011 at 8:32 am

    There needs to be greater local, state and federal support for an off road network of recreational walking and cycling trails in and around Sydney. These trails would compliment the Sydney Coastal Council Group walking trails and would promote health, ease congestion, reintegrate folks with wildlife, ensure space on roads for necessary and legitimate trasport use.

  3. Beth Says:
    July 7th, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    Cate, you should do another video at the King St cycle lane at the bottom of the hill. I ride up this hill and down this hill everyday, the number of cyclists is staggering!

  4. Cate Says:
    July 7th, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Good idea, I’ll do that soon!

  5. Cate Says:
    July 7th, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    good analysis colin. Worth doing a similar one for other lanes I think.
    If anyone is doing this let me know or else we’ll see what we can do.

  6. Tony Says:
    July 8th, 2011 at 2:21 pm

    Great video Cate!

    I have started cycling from Rozelle to North Sydney each day and the number of cyclists that ride through the city and over the bridge is amazing!

    You should take your camera to the city end of the bridge one day to see how many people use this facility.

    As more and more cycle paths are added and linked around Sydney I am absolutely confident that this will allow for more cyclists to ride each day.

    Keep up the great work!

  7. Ian Says:
    August 19th, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    It is OK to encourage cyclists but not at the expense of parking spaces in the inner city area. For example, I am 61yrs old, have a small car kept in perfect condition which averages 4,000km per year. I rely on street parking. I use public transport when I can and try to do all the other “green” things.

    The wholesale scrapping of on-street parking which has occurred near me (Darlinghurst/Woolloomooloo) has put pressure on street parking. Note: I pay the full resident’s parking levy whilst a Yaris driver doing 50,000km per year gets it for half price.

    In all the discussion about cycling I have never heard anyone mention the obvious fact that the people who choose to cycle to work are not people who would have driven to work in a car, but mostly people who would use public transport.

    I keep seeing “numbers” in the newspapers about cycle usage which lack the proper supporting references. For example, the Sun-Herald 12 June 2011, p.9 had an article with a diagram (without sources) that said the “weekday afternoon peak period” saw 862 push bikes pass through the Oxford/College St intersection (up from 278 in 2010). I sat at that corner last Tuesday, a perfect sunny winters day, from 5.06pm to 5.42pm,36 minutes, and counted 171 bikes. Please, if you want to be respected and supported, but upfront and honest.

    I have also noted an edge of spitefulness and desire to inflict pain on motorists. The final section of Bourke Street in Alexandria has lost one whole side to parking and is now armed with the type of speed humps reserved for use in multi-storey car parks: 20km maximum speed every 60 metres or so–a main road reduced to a speed slower than a push bike.

    That is just plain spite and brings discredit to the sustainable environment movement.

    Ian

  8. Michael Rynn Says:
    August 21st, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    I have been unemployed 2 years, and I do not expect to get a job ever again. My bicycle is my principle form of local transport, and means of getting exercise. Car trips are a luxury and last option. I want to see safe pedestrian and cycleway routes connecting every suburb, and being accessible as routes in all directions from every school.

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