Bicycle Network: Benchmarks

Overall participation

In 2011 the Australian Bicycle Council developed a participation index methodology and ran the first benchmark surveys. The ABC is auspiced by Austroads, the association of Australian and New Zealand road transport and traffic authorities such as VicRoads in Victoria.

This index will now - in our view - replace ERASS (see below) as the most accurate indicator of the overall level of bike riding.

Here is the full report that outlines the methodology and results. Some distinctive features of participation in each state have been gathered into state by state summaries:

National summary report

National full report

ACT

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Victoria

Western Australia

The methodology allows local governments to run surveys in their area to compare their levels of riding with the national average.

This summary is drawn from the Ipswich Council survey that used the same methodology.

ERASS

Exercise, Recreation, and Sport Survey

ERASS is prepared by the Australian Sports Commission and the state and territory government sport and recreation agencies. ERASS has some significant strengths in particular the consistent methodology that has been been followed every year since 2001.

However as an overall participation index it has some weaknesses. It focuses on sport which can draw in some recreation riding but does not report transport riding. The NCP index showed riding levels four times higher than ERASS. ERASS also only records activity by those fifteen and older and so does not pick up what the NCP found to be a substantial amount of riding by under fifteens.