A person riding a bicycle in a designated bike lane on a sunny day, with cars parked on the side of the street and trees lining the sidewalk.

Provide transport choices

Make it easy and safe to ride by building a connected, direct, and convenient cycling network.

  • Ever noticed how a new road or an extra lane will reduce traffic for a little while, but then the congestion builds up again – usually worse than before? It’s a well-studied pattern called Induced Demand and it basically means that what you build for, you get. Build more roads, you get more cars (and traffic, pollution and danger). Unsurprisingly, it works just as well for bikes.

    Every city in the world that has built more bike lanes has seen an almost immediate surge in the number of people using bikes. Not just for recreation, but to get to work, to go shopping, meet friends, go to dinner and attend events. And then those cities also start to see a decline in car usage (and traffic, pollution and danger), because many of those drivers have become riders, at least for some of their journeys. They also see their residents getting fitter, healthier and happier as they use their bodies more to move around their streets. It’s not rocket science, it’s very simple cause and effect. 
    And it happens. Every. Single. Time.

  • For something with such a clear cause-and-effect pattern, it’s weird to see people stuck in some very old chicken-and-egg thinking. “Why build more bike lanes? I hardly see anyone riding bikes? Who will use them?” is the core argument. By that logic, we would have required evidence of mass river swimming before we built any bridge.
    ​​


    What that argument is hiding, though, is a fear of change. Residents worry they’ll lose parking spaces, or lanes will get too narrow for cars they we have to give over street space for bike lanes. We also have to acknowledge that cyclists, for some reason, seem to really trigger some drivers. It’s a real thing. Not rational, but it definitely exists.

  • We know that induced demand means that if they build it, we will come (and ride) but we need to show State and Local governments the evidence that ‘active transport’ (as the professionals like to call it) can deliver big benefits, especially once all the pieces of the network start falling into place:

    • More kilometres of separated bike lanes between areas of high use

    • Complete connected networks that avoid forcing riders back onto dangerous roads

    • Lockers, charge points and secure storage for bikes, scooters and micro-mobility vehicles

    • Change rooms (called End-Of-Trip-facilities) in workplaces for active commuters

    • Financial incentives for e-bikes to replace the 2nd family car

  • The groups that may find it easier to ‘normalise’ cycling as transport are P&C groups, business associations and residents groups – people who are using bikes not for recreation, but just to do normal stuff, including making deliveries in built up areas. As micro-mobility gains popularity (scooters, one-wheels and all manner of new e-approaches), commuters will also become an influential voice. 

  • Contact us if you’d like to bring your interest group or other organisation into the Better Streets coalition, and help speed up the adoption of transport options in your neighbourhood.

  • City of Sydney (2021). Pop-ups to go permanent as rider numbers rocket | City of Sydney - News. [online] Nsw.gov.au. Accessed 23 August 2024. Available at: https://news.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/pop-ups-to-go-permanent-as-rider-numbers-rocket

    Transport & Environment. (2024). Increase in Paris cycle lanes leads to dramatic rise in bike commuting. [online]. Accessed 23 Aug. 2024. Available at: https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/increase-paris-cycle-lanes-leads-dramatic-rise-bike-commuting

    Sustrans. Bike Life: Protected bike lanes will transform our cities - Sustrans.org.uk. [online] Accessed 23 August 2024. Available at: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-blog/opinion/2018/november/bike-life-protected-bike-lanes-will-transform-our-cities.

  • Wilson Street, Newtown NSW

    La Trobe Street, West Melbourne VIC

    William Street, Melbourne VIC

    Elizabeth Street, Brisbane QLD

    Chalk Street, Wooloowin QLD

A vibrant street scene under a clear blue sky with blooming pink and purple flowering trees. A woman walks her dog on the sidewalk, while storefronts, signage, and a bike lane are visible.

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