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 In this e-newsletter:
The
Cycling Promotion Fund has been busy working over summer to help create a
bicycle friendly Australia.
This e-newsletter provides a snapshot of key activities and achievements in cycling
from around Australia and overseas, as well as links for further information.
The Bicycling
Achievement Awards was established by the Cycling Promotion Fund in 2002 to
recognise innovation and commitment in the promotion and encouragement of
cycling.
The former Victorian Premier, The Hon. Steve Bracks
will deliver the key note address to this years’ presentation of the Bicycling
Achievement Awards, to be held in Canberra on the 16th March at Old Parliament
House, Canberra.
Finalists will be joined by Federal MP’s and
Senators from around Australia to celebrate the achievements of the winners.
In December 2008, Brisbane City Council announced that French company JCDecaux was the successful bidder to operate a public bicycle scheme across the inner core of the Queensland capital. From 2010, 2000 bicycles will be distributed across 150 points across Brisbane’s inner city.
Users will be charged $55 per year, $25 per quarter or $10 per day and are required to return the bikes to any one of the 150 pods within 30 minutes, to avoid additional charges. This pricing structure endures quick turn-around times, to facilitate short trips around the city.
Photo: left to right: Alton Twine (BCC), Mayor Campbell Newman, Ben Wilson (Bicycle QLD)
The Brisbane public bicycle scheme follows a growing number of highly successful programs in Europe, where they are starting to be seen as an extension of the public transport system and have been instrumental in making cycling more visable. Melbourne, Sydney and Perth are currently working on their own public bicycle schemes.
 The Victorian Government has improved bicycle parking at 18 Melbourne train stations and five in regional Victoria over recent months. The cages park around 25 bikes and entry/exit is controlled via swipe card, with CCTV providing additional security.
The program is an acknowledgment that public demand for the integration of cycling with the public transport system is growing.
In January 2009 an expansion of the program was announced, involving an additional 10 cages. The program is managed by Bicycle Victoria and the cages are free, although a $50 bond is required.
Australians purchased over 1.2 million bicycles in 2008.
This is the ninth consecutive year in which Australians have bought more bicycles than cars.
The bicycle boom in Australia is part of a global trend that has seen bicycle sales soar in recent years.
The Australian bicycle industry is estimated to be worth between $950m and $1b in 2008.
The 2009 Tour Down Under cycling event in Adelaide attracted a record number of participants, making it the largest event in South Australian history and a tremendous boost to the economy. Official figures show the event injected $39 million into the state’s economy, with around 36,000 visitors from interstate and overseas.
The participation of cycling great Lance Armstrong doubled the number of visitors and produced a five-fold increase in media coverage. The participation event Mutual Community Challenge Tour attracted in excess of 7,000 riders. This doubled the participation number from 2008 and highlights that high profile cycling events can be a catalyst to inspire people to get on their bicycles.
The South Australian Premier Mike Rann took the opportunity during Australia’s largest cycling event to announce a boost in bicycle infrastructure investment.
With cycling levels lagging behind the other states, NSW initiated the development of the BikePlan, to assist in boosting bicycling participation across the state. Work has been progressing on the NSW BikePlan, with a major report titled Cycling in New South Wales: What the data tells us now complete. This report showed that proportionally, Sydney has the lowest bicycle participation rate in Australia.
Commenting on the release of the report, NSW Minister for Roads Michael Daley said “Our aim is to turn this statistic around over the next five to ten years and get people out on their bikes. For this to happen, we need to double our efforts to double the commuter cycle trips from 0.8 per cent measured in 2006 to 1.5 per cent”. The NSW BikePlan is expected to be completed in June 2009.
The Cycling Promotion Fund made a submission to the taskforce charged with developing a national preventative health strategy.
Our submission detailed the opportunities cycling offers to tackle the rise of overweight and obesity and help make Australia the healthiest country by 2020. It provides both global and specific recommendations to boost the health of Australia through the creation of bicycle friendly environments and interventions to promote and encourage cycling.
The CPF commissioned Frontier Economics to prepare our submission to the review of the Australian taxation system. We support the review of the tax and transfer system and strongly support reform to better align the tax system with social and environmental policy objectives, including new and innovative approaches that proactively encourage cycling and other forms of active and low emissions transportation.
Our submission recommends changes to the Fringe Benefit Tax system that currently encourages increased car travel and makes a strong case to improve the way cycling is treated by the tax system. A number of countries were found to actively encourage cycling, such as bike maintenance rebates in the United States and a salary sacrificing scheme in the UK for those riding to work. Since January 1st 2009, US employees who commute by bicycle are eligible for reimbursement of $20 per month from their employers.
The employers can then deduct the same amount from their taxable income, to cover the cost of their employee reimbursement. The Bicycle Act is part of the ‘Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008’ an is expected to cost $US 1 million per year, compared to $US 4.4 billion for car parking and public transport benefits.
 The CPF recently provided a comprehensive submission to the Senate Inquiry into the investment of Commonwealth and State funds in public passenger transport infrastructure and services.
Our submission focused on the role cycling can play to increase access to the public transport network. We recommended a national strategic approach to funding integrated public and active transport. This should include:
- Funding action plans to connect public transport hubs with the surrounding community through a comprehensive network of cycle ways and shared paths and marketing support to inform the public of the range of sustainable transport options.
- Providing a range of key infrastructure enhancements that would significantly increase the transport options for trips by active modes.
These include:
- bicycle racks on buses
- rail rolling stock designed to carry bicycles with passengers
- high quality bicycle parking at train stations and other transport hubs
- signage and marketing support
A copy of the submission will be available upon request and will be loaded on our website once it is published on the Inquiry website.
The CPF has worked with the National Heart Foundation to ensure that eligibility for this $800 million funding program, which provides funding to local governments for community infrastructure, includes bicycle trails. We contacted councils to encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity to create more cycle friendly communities and are confident that a number of cycling projects will be funded under this scheme.
We have received numerous endorsements for the Healthy and Active Transport (HEAT) policy proposal. The policy proposes that the Federal Government establish an infrastructure funding program to provide recurrent funding to Local Government to assist them to speed up the creation of cycling and walking facilities. To date, it has been endorsed by:
- Diabetes Australia
- Kidney Health Australia
- National Heart Foundation of Australia
- National Stroke Foundation
- The Cancer Council Australia
 The Parliamentary Cycling Group, Riders on the Hill, was initiated in 2005 by a group of interested federal politicians with the assistance of Stephen Hodge, Olympian and six times Tour de France finisher. In August 2008 Stephen was appointed our Government Relations Manager in Canberra.
A regular ride each Parliamentary sitting week provides an opportunity for the Riders to enjoy a bit of active time away from politics in the great riding environment of the Nations’ capital.
Photo: left to right: The Hon Sussan Ley MP, Member for Farrer NSW; Mark Dreyfus QC, MP, Member for Isaacs VIC; Julie Owens MP, Member for Parramatta NSW; Bernie Ripoll MP, Member for Oxley QLD; The Hon Kevin Andrews MP, Member for Menzies; Stephen Hodge.
The Cycling Promotion Fund and the Amy Gillett Foundation launched a series of innovative video clips at the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne in February 2009.
The dramatic increase in the numbers of bicycle riders over recent years has lead to large numbers of relatively inexperienced riders on the road. These video clips provide current and ‘would be’ riders with practical tips on how to avoid common hazards when riding in traffic.
The clips are promoted through the internet and can be viewed on you tube. Web banners have been created and cycling organisations, bicycle retailers and anyone promoting and encouraging cycling are encouraged to include them on their sites. DVD’s will also be available.
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CPF News 
Bicycle sales in 2008