Call to fast-track bike lanes to boost jobs and take advantage of lockdown-induced bicycle sales

Australia’s peak cycling organisation is calling on governments to capitalise on a surge in lockdown-induced bicycle sales by fast-tracking the construction of all 750km of planned bike lanes around the country, a move it says would promote physically distanced commuting while taking “tens of thousands” of cars off city roads.

The rising interest in cycling has also been noticed by Queensland’s transport and roads minister, Mark Bailey, who told the Guardian the Palaszczuk government would consider “further investments in cycleways across Queensland in the near future” as a result of the demand.

He said he expected many of the new riders would “stick with it permanently”.

Bicycle Network, which has more than 45,000 members, has called for cooperation between the federal and state governments, as well as councils, to move ahead with “pop-up” bike lanes to help boost construction jobs hit hard by the Covid-19 lockdowns and to ultimately reduce unsafe crowding on public transport as workers return to offices during the pandemic.

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The group believes this can be achieved in a matter of days by using barriers, line markings and lane dividers on existing roads – similar to a plan for six pop-up cycleways recently announced across Sydney.

But Bicycle Network also wants 750km of bike lanes planned for the longer term, including Melbourne’s Transport Strategy 2030 and Sydney’s Future Transport Strategy 2056, to be built immediately, in line with similar moves in Berlin, Montreal and Paris.

A key element of the Bicycle Networks vision is a daily $5 cash incentive paid by the federal government to commuters who leave their cars at home and ride to work. The network’s chief executive, Craig Richards, argues that would save public money in the long term when maintenance and health outcomes are taken into consideration.

In its six-month plan “to stimulate the economy, create jobs, save lives and get Australians moving,”, Bicycle Network notes a 270% increase in bike path use in some cities since the pandemic began.

“We’ve got this real moment of opportunity, where there’s been an explosion in bike use among people who wanted to keep active during lockdowns, and now as they are starting to return to offices, people want to ride their bikes to work,” Richards said.

“If public transport usage goes back to pre-pandemic levels then commuters might risk social distancing and even a second wave of coronavirus.”

He points to the “Portland model”, which states that six out of every 10 people are interested in riding a bike to work but are too concerned about interaction with heavy vehicles.

“I think there’s a mix of traditional public transport users as well as car drivers who want to ride bikes to work … [more bike lanes] could take tens of thousands of cars out of key cities each day,” Richards said.

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The network also proposes tax rebates for bike purchases, and grants for bike parking and showering facilities in office hotspots.

“Every time a person commutes by car it costs society $10, and every time they commute by bike society it saves $10, when you add up all the costs of infrastructure, maintenance, fuel, environmental impacts, and the financial impacts of congestion,” Richards said. “If you deduct from the cost of paying the $5 the health benefits and saving on the public and roads system, we can afford to return some of that money back to the commuters whose habits are saving society money.”

Richards said bike lanes that would normally take months to build could be completed “in days” during the pandemic.

“Now is not the time to get bogged down in red tape. Local and state governments need to come together. It would be a tragedy if we came out of this and all those bikes that have been bought just stayed in sheds,” he said.

In Brisbane, Bailey has contributed to a 30% increase in bike lane usage by riding into his CBD office since the pandemic began.

“I expect that some people who have given cycling a go over the last few months like myself may well stick with it permanently, as I have, and that is a positive thing for our city in terms of general health and getting cars off our roads,” he said.

A Victorian government spokesman said the state was “doing everything we can to prepare the transport network for people to start to travel again safely. Some Victorians will use this as opportunity to get on the bike – and we welcome that.”