Cycling figures start to turn full circle again

By Melissa Meehan
STAFF at the Cranbourne Royal Botanic Gardens are looking forward to joining more than 60,000 Australians this year for the annual National Ride to Work Day held on 17 October.
Planning to ride 15km from Frankston to Cranbourne for Ride to Work Day, Dianne Clark said that she registered because riding her bike to work sounded like a fun and healthy thing to do.
“I used to ride my bike a lot in the past and I hope to start riding more in the future,” Mrs Clark said.
Bicycle Victoria said that 34 per cent of participants who took up riding in Victoria’s Ride to Work day last year were still riding to work five months later.
Mrs Clark said that living in Caulfield makes it difficult to ride to work each day but said that she sometimes takes her bike on the train so that she can ride part of the way to work, which is a growing trend for bike riders who live long distances from their workplaces.
Bicycle Victoria praises riders who cycle just 10km each way to work instead of driving, stating that it saves 1.3 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Mrs Clark’s decision to start riding again is part of an Australia-wide shift towards riding bikes to work rather than driving cars.
Bicycle Victoria reports that bicycle counts from around Australia show a 10-30 per cent increase on major commuter routes in the past year and journey-to-work census data due to be released in October is expected to reflect that.
And Bicycle Victoria said bikes have also outsold cars in Australia for the fifth year in a row, reaching a record 1.3 million in 2006, while motor vehicle sales declined.
Those who would like to be part of Ride to Work Day can go to www.ride2work.com.au.