Cycling in Sydney
Bicycle ownership and use
Ministry of Transport
APRIL 2008
Introduction
Cycling provides an environmentally friendly alternative mode of transport while delivering health and fitness benefits to
the community. To demonstrate commitment to cycling, the NSW Government released Action for Bikes - BikePlan 2010
which describes a wide range of actions that can be taken to improve facilities for cyclists and make it safer to ride. Since
its release a series of connecting cycleways has been created for cyclists. This ten year plan aims to deliver an average of 200
kilometres of cycling facilities per year however the Government has been able to deliver an average of 233 kilometres.
Through the Roads and Traffic Authority, a commitment
to improve cyclist safety via the provision of off-road
cycleways wherever practicable when major roads are built
or upgraded has been put into place. Accordingly, bicycle
facilities have been and continue to be delivered by all major
road infrastructure projects including the North West Bus
Transitways Network, and as part of the Great Western,
Hume and Pacific Highway upgrades.
The Government recognises that most cycling takes place on
local roads. Consequently, it will continue to provide dollar
for dollar funding to local councils for the development and
implementation of local cycling networks. Currently, there
are more than 3,900 kilometres of cycleway in NSW.
To encourage more people to take up cycling, the RTA
promotes NSW Bike Week and supports major cycling
events including the City of Sydney Spring Cycle, MS Sydney
to the Gong Ride, National Ride to Work Day and the
Great Escapade. The RTA also produces a range of cycleway
maps and other publications to foster safe cycling practices.
Findings from the latest Household Travel Survey show an
increase in trends towards the number of people cycling
and the number of cycling trips undertaken in the Sydney
Metropolitan Area. This indicates growing support for cycling
in Sydney.
Summary of findings
·In 2005 Sydney residents made over 120,000 bike trips on an
average weekday and almost 160,000 bike trips on an average
weekend day.
·Cycling for social and recreational purposes remains the single most
reported reason for bicycle travel, especially on weekends. In 2005,
75% of weekend bike trips were for social and recreational purposes.
·Bicycle trips account for about 1% of trips per day.
·Males and teenagers still make up the majority of bike users, but
more females and people of all ages are to taking up cycling.
·Although accounting for a small share of the total transport task,
bicycle use is growing fast, 23% on weekdays and 58% on weekend
days since 2001.
·This brought weekday bicycle mode share from 0.62% in 2001 to
0.71% in 2005. Over the same period weekend bicycle mode share
went from 0.79% to 1.1%.
·Household bicycle ownership rose from 1,225,000 (0.82 per
household) in 2001 to 1,480,000 (0.96 per household) in 2005.
·In 2005 42% of Sydney households owned at least 1 bicycle,
up from 37% in 2001.
·Despite declining household size, the proportion of households
owning two or more bikes grew by 18%.
2001
2005
160,000
140,000
Bicycle Trips
·The growth in bicycle travel is supported by increased bicycle
availability, with more households owning more bikes.
180,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
We ekday
Weekend
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Transport task
·In 2005 Sydney residents made over 120,000 bike trips on an average
weekday and almost 159,000 bike trips on an average weekend day.
50%
2005
40%
·This amounts to a 23% growth on weekdays and 58% on weekend
days over 2001.
Weekday
35%
Weekend
30%
% trips
·Bicycle mode share went from 0.62% in 2001 to 0.71% in 2005 for
weekday travel and from 0.79% to 1.1% for weekend travel.
2001
45%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
Mode
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Walk only
Bus
Ferry
Train
V. passenger
Vehicle driver
Other
Bicycle
Taxi
Walk only
Bus
Ferry
Train
V. passenger
Vehicle driver
0%
Purpose of bike trips
·Social/recreational purposes continue to be the primary reason for
bicycle trips especially for weekends.
2005
Personal business
Shopping
Education
·On weekdays, commuting is the second largest bicycle trip purpose.
Other work related
Commute
Weekend
·Social/recreational cycling on weekends grew by 67% from 2001
to 2005.
2001
Social Rec
Weekday
·This partly reflects the fact that cycling is a recreational activity as
well as a mode of travel.
Other
Drop pick-up accompany
Other
Drop pick-up accompany
Social Rec
Personal business
Shopping
Other work related
Commute
-
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
Number of trips 000s' by Purpose
Duration of bicycle trips
·The majority of bike trips take less than 20 minutes.
35%
2001
·Weekend bike trips are longer, reflecting the role of social and
recreational purposes in weekend bike travel.
25%
·The average weekday trip time has remained at 17 minutes.
Weekday
% of bike trips
·The average weekend bike fell from 24 minutes in 2001
to 21 minutes in 2005.
2005
30%
Weekend
20%
15%
10%
5%
>90
81-90
71-80
61-70
51-60
41-50
31-40
21-30
6-10
11-20
0-5
>90
81-90
71-80
61-70
51-60
41-50
31-40
21-30
11-20
0-5
6-10
0%
Trip duration (mins)
Age and gender
·For all age groups, except 31 – 40 year olds, the proportion of
people who made at least 1 bike trip on their travel day grew.
% of age group who used bike
·The number of males who made a bike trip on their travel day
grew by 21% from 2001 to 2005. For females the increase was 69%.
(Data not shown)
3%
2001
2005
2%
1%
0%
<10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
>70
Age group
2/5
Labour force status
4%
·Students and the unemployed have the highest rates of bicycle use.
2001
2005
3%
% who used bike
·Bicycle use grew for all categories of labour force status.
2%
1%
0%
School Student
Adult Student
Unemployed
Full time w ork
Part time /
Child at school
casual w orker
Retired
Labour force status
Personal income (15yrs+)
3%
2001
·Rates of bike use grew across the income categories, but most
significantly for the upper income brackets.
2%
% of income group
·However this reflects a general population trend of rising incomes
and income bracket creep.
2005
1%
0%
$0 - $10,339
$10,400 - $20,799
$20,800 - $41,599
$41,600 - $77,999
$78,000 or more
Personal income of those 15yrs and over
Household type
·There was a 25% increase in the number of bike users who were
in this household type.
2001
2005
30,000
25,000
No. bicycle users
·The majority of bicycle users live in family households with children.
This reflects the dominance of this household type across the
population but also the high rate of bicycle use by children.
35,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
Single
Couple only
Couple w ith
children
Single Parent
Hhold
Other HH type
Household type
Dwelling type
100%
2001
·In 2005 86% of bicycle users lived in free standing houses. This
reflects the general pattern of the population.
% of bike users
·The proportion of bike users living in flats and units grew to 13%
in 2005. This parallels the higher rates of bike use by those living in
inner areas of Sydney as shown on page 4.
2005
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Flat/Unit - Medium-High Density
Semi-detached, 1 or more stories
Separate house
Dwelling type
Licence holding
100
·Bicycle users are slightly less likely to have a driver’s licence (77%)
than the general population (83%)
2005
Bicycle users
80
% of persons
·The share of (eligible) bicycle users who hold a driver’s licence
increased from 73% in 2001 to 77% in 2005.
2001
Total population
60
40
20
0
Yes
No
Y es
No
Hold Licence
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Bicycle ownership
·In 2005 42% of households in Sydney owned at least 1 bicycle.
70%
·The number of households with no bike fell by 4% from 2001.
60%
·About 19% of households owned only adult bicycles, 10% only
children’s bikes and 11% owned both adult and children’s bicycles.
50%
2001
2005
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
no bikes
adult bike only
child bike only
adult and child
bikes
Bike ownership
Number of household bicycles
·The number of bicycles per household has also grown from
0.82 to 0.96.
·The number of households with more than 1 bicycle increased 18%.
2001
2005
60%
% of households
·In 2005 Sydney householders owned 1,480,000 bicycles.
An increase of 20% (255,000 bikes) over 2001.
70%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0
1
No. Hhold bikes
2
3+
Geographic distribution
·Rates of ownership are higher in outer areas of
Sydney Statistical Division, however rates of use
are higher in inner areas, where urban densities are
generally higher.
* Bike trips made on an average day
Statistical Subdivision
Inner Sydney
Eastern Suburbs
Inner Western Sydney
Lower Northern Sydney
Canterbury - Bankstown
Central Northern Sydney
Northern Beaches
St George - Sutherland
Central Western Sydney
Fairfield - Liverpool
Outer Western Sydney
Outer Sth Western
Blacktown
Gosford - Wyong
Total Sydney SD
The Household Travel Survey The Household Travel Survey
(HTS) is the only large scale, comprehensive and continuous
survey of the travel patterns of residents of the Sydney Greater
Metropolitan Area. Every year approximately 3,500 households
(or 10,000 individuals) are interviewed about their travel on
a particular day, with interviews spread across the whole
year. Information on all travel and activities undertaken by all
household members over a given 24 hour period are collected
via face to face interview.
Annual estimate are derived from pooled waves of HTS data to
maximise statistical reliability. The 2001 travel estimates in this
paper are based on data from waves 3 to 5 of the HTS (1999/00,
2000/01, 2001/02) weighted to the official 2001 population
estimates. The 2005 travel estimates are based on data from
waves 7 to 9 (2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06) weighted to the
official 2005 population estimates.
Bicycles
Resident
Bike Trips*
Bicycles
Bike Trips*
Per Household
SSD Share of
Bicycles Bike Trips
79,001
62,296
48,082
87,674
73,164
166,710
102,330
166,528
80,219
100,961
165,693
91,473
105,732
150,259
14,752
7,438
5,512
8,865
9,022
12,748
9,591
14,902
5,636
9,850
10,878
4,691
5,775
11,589
0.56
0.61
0.75
0.70
0.69
1.19
1.14
1.03
0.75
0.91
1.52
1.17
1.16
1.27
0.11
0.07
0.09
0.07
0.08
0.09
0.11
0.09
0.05
0.09
0.10
0.06
0.06
0.10
5.3%
4.2%
3.2%
5.9%
4.9%
11.3%
6.9%
11.3%
5.4%
6.8%
11.2%
6.2%
7.1%
10.2%
11.2%
5.7%
4.2%
6.8%
6.9%
9.7%
7.3%
11.4%
4.3%
7.5%
8.3%
3.6%
4.4%
8.8%
1,480,120
131,249
0.96
0.08
100.0%
100.0%
©2007 Crown Copyright Subject to copyright. All rights
reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no
part covered by copyright may be reproduced or copied by any
means, electronically or otherwise without written permission of
the copyright owner.
Disclaimer While all care is taken in producing and publishing this
work, no responsibility is taken or warranty made with respect
to the accuracy of any information, data or representation. The
authors (including copyright owners) and publishers expressly
disclaim all liability in respect of anything done or omitted to be
done and the consequences upon the reliance of the contents of
this information.
Acknowledgements This publication was produced by the
Transport Data Centre (TDC) of the NSW Ministry of
Transport on behalf of the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority
(RTA) Bicycle Unit.
4/5
4500
·The RTA has installed bicycle counters throughout Sydney since
2002 to monitor bicycle usage.
4000
Total of Bike
Volumes
Bicycle usage from RTA bicycle counters
·The data from the bicycle counters is summarised using annual
indicator such as: Average week daily count (5days); average
weekend daily count (2 days); and average daily Count (7 days).
·These indicators have been totalled for each year from 2002 to
2007, and reveals the following significant increases in bicycle usage:
3500
3000
2500
– The average weekly daily count has increased by 68% from
2524 in 2002 to 4235 in 2007.
2000
2002
– The average weekend daily count has increased by 33% from
2629 in 2002 to 3507 in 2007.
2003
TOTALS
Average weekend daily count
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
549
263
377
284
569
309
744
298
842
769
234
798
518
855
446
935
572
146
122
139
223
122
240
112
115
268
80
78
28
2006
2007
Year
Average weekday daily count
Iron Cove Bridge cycleway
Anzac Bridge cycleway
Sydney Harbour Bridge
cycleway
Anzac Parade cycleway
John Whitton Bridge cycleway,
Meadowbank
Cooks River cycleway,
Marrickville South
Captain Cook Bridge cycleway
Como Bridge cycleway
Browns Waterhole cycleway, M2
tunnel
Crestwood Reserve cycleway,
Baulkham Hills
Cabramatta cycleway
Liverpool to Parramatta Rail
Trail, Guildford
2005
Average week daily count
Average weekend daily count
Average daily count
– The average daily count has increased by 57% from 2550 in
2002 to 4016 in 2007.
Cycleway
2004
Average daily count
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2002
2003
355
943
292
241
201
311
251
276
300
335
388
2004
2005
2006
2007
365
426
477
257
318
292
485
299
622
309
708
358
792
1080
700
1188
827
521
145
443
290
472
254
500
300
579
370
637
460
696
210
707
451
740
390
804
493
930
603
1023
720
157
160
187
287
232
228
283
303
430
185
153
164
194
202
257
135
110
193
98
123
153
50
130
200
160
143
202
476
157
414
194
142
405
187
116
320
169
151
257
76
169
321
307
196
382
295
132
288
136
123
306
149
115
231
119
131
184
58
142
235
203
158
254
68
82
92
95
94
122
96
97
112
114
128
92
76
86
98
101
104
50
31
64
30
33
34
31
17
31
24
126
34
76
41
86
40
48
40
47
23
51
32
90
30
57
34
70
33
37
36
36
19
37
26
55
51
62
79
66
81
55
69
78
100
77
93
55
57
66
85
69
84
2524
2773
2969
3329
3669
4235
2629
2430
2440
2536
2802
3507
2550
2675
2821
3102
3412
4016
1. The above figures show total of both direction and are dependent on the number of days when the bicycle counters are operational.
2. The 2006 figures for Cooks River Cycleway was undercounting and has been fixed.
3. The 2007 Sydney Harbour Bridge figures were estimated, as counter was removed for work on Sydney Harbour Bridge Fencing.
For further enquiries:
Transport Data Centre – Ministry of Transport on bicycle ownership and use data:
www.transport.nsw.gov.au/tdc | T (02) 9268 2211 | F (02) 9268 2839 | [email protected]
For information on bicycle policy and bicycle usage from RTA bicycle counters:
RTA Bicycle Section: www.rta.nsw.gov.au | T 13 22 13 | [email protected]
For Bikeplan 2010 or free cycleway maps call 1800 06 06 07
April 08
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