Did you know??Cycling is......

andyes you can...

Save Time Bicycles can be faster than any other mode of travel1

When travel time is measured from “doorto door” for short-distance trips (up to 5 Km)on a congested urban road network (The Australian National Cycling Strategy 2005-2011)

When travel time is measured from door to door for short-distance trips up to 5 km long on a congested urban road network, bicycles can generally be faster than any other mode of travel.

Figure 2- Gosford & Woy Woy Station “5km/15min Cycling Catchment Areas”

Figure 1 - Journey time against Distance by Mode in the Urban Environment

5 km

Get Healthy

Cycling can help you get your recommended 30 minutes (two 15min bike trips) of activity per day2, and help you:

• control your weight• reduce your risk of chronic disease. • reduce stress and depression. • improve concentration and sleep. • tone and strengthen muscles. • improve energy levels.

Figure 3: Schematic illustration depicting the relationships between physical activity and health benefit.

“every adult should accumulate half an hour of moderate-intensity physical activity on at least 5 days per week” 3(Commonwealth Health National PA guidelines)

The importance of physical activity and cycling to health

Adapted from Bouchard, 2001

The cost savings to society of substituting bicycle trips for short car trips can be of the order of 60 c/km4, including:

• Reductions in the cost of providing parking (It costs about $45,000 and 30m2 to provide “1 car park”. Based on Woy Woy commuter car park)

• Transport makes up 16% of the average Australian family’s budget, a similar proportion to housing and food costs5.

• Running an average car in NSW costs between $7,500 and $16,800 a year6. (a bike costs around 1% of that amount. 42.4 % of Gosford households owns 2 or more vehicles, often used to park at commuter car parks)

By cycling, save at least $56.10 and 4.8 hours per week – even more if parking costs and current fuel prices are considered.

Save Money It makes good economic sense to encourage more cycling.

Table 1- Bike Versus Car (source: Cycling Promotion Fund CYCLING FACT SHEET 05)

Time and Cost Comparison: 8 km Commute to CBD6,7,8,9

Cycling is a sustainable mode of Transport and friendly to the environment.

• About half of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by an average Australian family are from transport. In urban areas motor vehicles are the main source of air pollution10

• Using bicycles to replace short car trips… means: Less energy, less pollution, and less space for cars and roads….

• A city…that is designed for higher levels of cycling can be cleaner… less polluting… and a more pleasant place to live.

Save the Environment

Figure - Greenhouse gas emissions from different forms of transport 11

Cycling becomes safer when more people cycle, bike paths and lanes are provided and the overall speed of traffic is lower.

Motor vehicles are the most significantSource of harm in the transport system,and pedestrians and cyclists bear adisproportionate burden of traffic risk.

Road safety is increased by shifting peopleout of cars and promoting cycling, walkingand public transport.

Be Safe

Figure 6: Cycling has lower injury rates than most other forms of sport, exercise and active recreations12

References • 1. Dekoster, J. Schollaert, U. 2000, Cycling: The Way Ahead for Towns and Cities, European Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment

• 2. World Health Organisation, 2000, Transport, Environment and Health, RegionalOffice for Europa, Copenhagen, Denmark, http://www.euro.who.int/document/e72015.pdf, accessed 7/02/08

• 3. Commonwealth Health National PA guidelines,1999; United States Surgeon General, 1996; Haskell et al, 2007

• 4. Shayler, M. Fergusson, M. & Rowell, A. (1993) Costing the Benefi ts: The Value of Cycling• 5. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006, Household Expenditure Survey 2003-04,6530.0, Australian

Government, Table 1, http://abs.gov.au, accessed 24/02/2008• 6. NRMA 2007 dollars, five-year whole-of-cost for average kilometres of new car in each class,

including fuel, maintenance, insurance, licensing, registration, depreciation and opportunity costs. NRMA Motoring + Services, 2007, Private Whole of Life Vehicle Operating Costs Report, Available: http://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xbcr/mynrma/Private_Costs_Report_Summary.pdf?cpssessionid=SID-3F5768E2-7F294FFA Accessed 24.02.2008

• 7. Davies, R. 2007, Implementing the Main Roads Cycling Policy, Main Roads Technical Forum Paper, Brisbane, Department of Main Roads, p6.

• 8 Arundell, L., 2007, The Cost of Cycling presentation at the 2007 Thinking on 2Wheels conference, University of SA

• 9. Assumptions made in calculating table:– " Commute is an 8 km trip, time by car = 27.5 minutes, time by bike = 26.4 minutes (ref 19 above).

Assume 10 trips per week.– " Gym commute: Assume additional 15 minutes commuting time.– " Gym session: Assume four 60 minute sessions (4 hours of exercise per week) plus 20 minutes change

and shower time. The bike exercise time is 4.4 hours.– " Car costs based on NRMA 2007 data (ref 3 above). Note they exclude parking costs and petrol prices

in June 2008 are much higher.– " Bike costs based on data in ref 20 above. Calculations assume journey to work cycling is 2/3 of all

cycling trips.

• 10. Australian Greenhouse Office / CSIRO, National Kilowatt Count of Household Energy Use, 2002• 11 . Source: Australian Greenhouse Office, 2006• 12. Research conducted by the British Medical Association found that the health risks of inactivity

are 20 times greater than the health risks posed bya potential cycling accident (British Medical Association, 1992)