Bicycling In Sydney Australia

Cycling is becoming one of the well known activities that Sydney Australia is recognized for. Everyday residents of Sydney are getting out of their cars and onto their bikes for all types of reasons including going to work, running errands and just cruising around the town. The officials of Sydney began implementing this cyclist friendly program in 2007. They concentrated most of their efforts on making the streets safer and easier for bikers to travel. Safety and convenience were the main concerns when it came to riding their bikes, so the government listened and started making changes to protect and encourage the citizens of Sydney.

The goal of Sydney's cycling plan is to make cycling a good choice for those who live in the city, those that commute to the city to work, and for those who are just visiting. The way they intend to do this is to start by creating a bike friendly environment. This will start in specific areas and then spread out to encompass the majority of the city. This will include a central focus of improving safety for cyclists, something that is always a major concern. Any time a cyclists has an accident with a motor vehicle, the cyclist loses no matter whose fault it was. So making cycling safer is a very necessary part of the plan.

Advertising this plan and promoting the improved conditions for bikers in Sydney is a large part of the plan to get people excited about riding their bikes. Without promoting this new plan and working to get people enticed to ride, the program is pointless. By 2016, the government plans to take the two percent of people who ride their bikes regularly to ten percent. For those short trip riders, the goal is to raise the percentage of cyclists to twenty percent, a lofty, but hopefully reachable goal. These goals for Sydney will help to reduce congestion caused by traffic and keep costs down for the citizens and visitors of Sydney.

Improving health and saving money will help to encourage cycling, but will also help those who will continue to drive cars. Reduction in traffic caused by cars will help in cutting down on expensive road construction and repairs, thereby helping reduce costs for citizens as well. Public transport crowding will also be reduce in the city, making shorter and fewer trips will help to save money in the long run. Decreasing green house gases and air pollution are other bonuses, and will help to cut healthcare expenses and get the citizens of Sydney in shape!

There have been cities in the past who have simply painted lines on the road and called them "bike lanes". Sydney has bigger and better ideas. The city will actually construct bike lanes that are located away from car lanes to make cycling even safer. Pedestrians and bikers will also share lanes in some locations, but these trailways will also be far away from vehicle lanes. The separation will encourage people to ride their bikes and give them peace of mind when cycling.

The city of Sydney did a lot of research before starting in on its cycling plan and it learned a lot about its cyclists. For example, the majority of cyclists are male and tend to be between ages 18 and 34. This accounts for over 80% of all cyclists in the city. This information told the city that it needed to focus on attracting women and older citizens to cycling if the plan were to truly be effective. These groups were overly concerned with safety or did not own a bike so they had no opportunity to ride.

The top reasons for biking instead of driving are fun and staying healthy. These new and improved biking lanes help to reduce driving in cars and have encouraged people to get on their bikes, reducing traffic, just as the city thought.

The view on bike is not bad either! There are tons of great trails to take as you commute and books have been released about what rides are where and which trails to take to see the best of Sydney. Olympic Park is one of the hot spots and attracts countless people due to the availability of the onsite BMX tracks and kid friendly facilities.

There are also lots of cycling events in Sydney. One fun one is the annual Ride to Work Day in October. It starts with a huge breakfast for cyclists in Hyde Park South and then everyone pedals off to the office. This event has been good at showing people that commuting can be done by bicycle and that it can be practical and fun. Hopefully for some, this will encourage them to make it more than a one-day occurrence.