Political will comes before change

80% of Australians care about climate action but it does not change their vote. We know from this climate change example that support is not enough. The way people vote is not only about what is important but also what is most important. What does this tell us about cycling in the ACT?

Riding to school in the snow

It is not the cold that stops kids from riding to school but the lack of safe infrastructure. All parents are concerned about their children’s safety. In Finland, children will ride to school on snow in subzero all year round. Clearly, the cold does not hold them back. Without a separated bike path and swept bike paths, it would not happen.

Cycling facts from the Netherlands where cycling is common

Australia comes in last in this country comparison of bicycle use as a percentage of total number of trips. This will be uncomfortable for many Australians, but Australia is certainly a LOW cycling country. Much will need to be done to encourage cycling in Australia. Few ride in Australia, so it is worth looking at a country where they do.

Cycling commuting in Canberra

Rushing off to work in the morning is familiar to everybody. Riding to work is enjoyable and good for our health. Getting there quickly and on time greatly matters. Considerable thought goes into getting to work. The routes between town centres are the most important ones and form cycle highways. This project focuses on the needs of commuting cyclists and the infrastructure they use daily.

Electric bike sales boom in Germany

1.4 Million electric bikes were sold in Germany in 2019. Germany is rather good at gathering data on bike sales. The data is collected by the German industry association ‘Zweirad-Industriep-Verband’ (ZIV).

A tale of two cities: a picture is worth a 1000 words

I’ve lived in Germany, Canada, the UK, and Australia. Among other great cities, I’ve been to Berlin, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, London, New York, Venice, Florence, Ottawa and Vancouver – but there is only one city in the world I would move back to in a flash: Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany.

A normal weekend in a cycling culture

We reached out to friends and family and asked them to send photos of them or others out and about riding their bikes. The weather was not bike friendly at all in South Germany, so no luck there. The rest of Germany did what you often do in a well established cycling culture: they grabbed their bikes and hit the road sometime during the weekend.

Language matters. Let’s do some definitional work!

Are you getting confused about the terminology of the Active Travel Routes Network? The ACT Active Travel Routes Network lingo is confusing. Here is a first change management attempt to clarify what it means.