Traffic calming in Narrabundah should be child’s play

Why is it so hard to implement traffic calming in the ACT? The mechanism is so slow and tedious with petitions and discussions dragged through the ACT Legislative Assembly. Surely slowing traffic is not such a big thing. TCCS seems ill prepared to deal with the problem in an agile way, and labours through the problem like a mammoth through the tundra. Tactile urbanism is a faster way to do this.

The mystery of female cycling

Amongst children, boys and girls, the participation rate for cycling is the same, which is known as “parity”. Amongst women in the ACT, and typical for low cycling countries, men are much more likely to cycle than women. The question should be, perhaps, not why women cycle less, but rather why girls in adolescence stop cycling.

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.

Section 4.5 Pyrrhic victories in road safety

In making roads better for cars we have made an environment hostile to people and in particular children.

Section 3.2 National Cycling Participation Survey (NCPS)

Different to other surveys, it tells us about cycling in Australia and Canberra over the last decade.

Active travel investment: 2020 ACT Election

If we want to get the job done, how much is really enough? Comparing the active travel pledges from the major parties at the 2020 ACT Election with historic benchmarks.

Bike, helmet, and all that stuff

There is so much that children need to learn about bikes, besides just the skills to ride them. Cycling is a lifestyle and riding to school is about that. Extracts from the Ride and Walk to School program from the Physical Activity Foundation.

Freedom for school children: lifetime cost of a bike

Businesses are accustomed to calculating the lifetime cost of ownership of a motor vehicle. This is something we rarely do in our private lives. An inexpensive new car with an on-road purchase price below $20,000 will cost easily $4000 per annum when all costs are considered. For that price, a family could have a number of very nice bikes. Bikes have a lifetime cost as well and here is one example.

Bikes for kids from an early age

The Canberra bike stores are fewer, bigger and more competitive. They will usually price match. Bike stores just want the sale. Kids grow fast, and once an enthusiastic cyclist, then always a cyclist. They know you will be back. Pricing for kids bikes starts from $200 and goes up to about $500.