Saturday, October 6, 2007

A quiet week, middle-class inner-urbanites

A quiet week on the commuting front. I had all day meetings in town three days this week, so I only got to ride Monday and Tuesday. I'm going to call this week "recovery", not slacking off, which I suspect is a more accurate description. I used public transport the other days, which reminded me why I like the bike. Public transport was smelly, noisy and over-crowded, and actually more tiring than my usual 56k round trip on the bike.

Interesting article in today's Age "Cyclists on the rise, but does this mean fewer cars?" which reported an increase from the 2001 to the 2006 census in the number of people reporting they rode to work on census day - from 1% in 2001 to 1.3% in 2006. The article quoted extensively one Melbourne University transport planner, Dr Paul Mees, whose reported view was that the increase in cycling to work had come almost exclusively from "middle-class inner-urbanites."

"If they used to walk or take public transport there is no environmental benefit" Dr Mees is reported to have said.

As the average distance reported in the article is 12.5 kilometres, my hunch is that Dr Mees is off beam on the walking at least - can't see too many of those middle-class urbanites walking 25 kilometres a day to work and back. But indeed, many of them could have been taking public transport, which as anyone who uses public transport at peak times knows, is at or beyond capacity. So all those people cycling are actually making space for more people to take public transport, and leave their cars at home.

Dr Mees also points out that the increase is "a blip compared with 1951 when 10% of trips to work were made by bike", and he concludes that "if all ( Melbourne 2030: getting cars off the road) has done is get people who used to walk or take a tram on a bicycle then it has failed terribly.

If my experience is any guide, people who commute also use the bike for other things that they might once have used a car for - take the half a ton of metal a couple of k down to the shops to return the dvd or pick up a litre of milk. Reducing those trips can't be a bad thing.

I'd be happy if my superannuation increased 30%, and it somehow seems counter-intuitive to be lamenting a similar increase in cycle commuters, where-ever they come from. Could be wishful thinking, but my guess is that the more people use bikes for transport, that will encourage more people still to use bikes for transport. The commuters will encounter on a daily basis the shortcomings of the road infrastructure, and some will keep hammering away at the relevant councils to improve that infrastructure, which will make a more propitious environment for more cyclists. Who knows, maybe even the commonwealth government might wake up that supporting cycling infrastructure could make sense on a whole lot of levels. The commuters will encourage their friends and work colleagues to think about cycling as a viable alternative, not as some weird fringe cult. When people do try commuting, like on ride to work day, they will see lots of other people doing exactly the same thing. There is real potential for a virtuous spiral there, which we should be celebrating and encouraging, not bucketing.

Not that collectively we could not be doing a whole lot more, particularly for groups who are under represented in cycling - something like the CTC Cycling Champions program that has just got lottery funding in the UK might be a nice idea. But at the end of the day, I think the core is 1) developing safe road infrastructure for cycle transport, 2) removing some of the incentives for people to buy and drive cars (stop dumb things like salary packaging for cars or carparking!) , and 3) developing some incentives for workplaces to provide adequately for cyclists.

Pity the Age couldn't have cast round a bit more widely for responses on this one.

Anyway, Tally for the week:

120 K (its a recovery week, ok?)
Rain: none on the commutes - Anne and I got soaked Friday night on a quick ride down to the shops where we thought we would only be a few minutes and who needs a coat?
Near misses: none
Punctures: none
$ spent on bike stuff: none

1 comment:

Bonito Club said...

I saw a friend on Saturday who has got himself an electric bike. He reckons his carbon footprint is now less than sitting on a tram and his daily commute costs about 10c. He also now does all his shopping using the e-bike. I think this is a great option for people who might find the prospect of a regular bike a bit daunting. - Tony