Bicycle Network: Measure & Understand

New figures confirm bike boom

23 January 2013. As more of the data from the 2011 census is analysed further confirmation has emerged that bike commuting is booming in Melbourne.

The Victorian Transport Statistics Portal has released data that shows the trends municipality by municipality.

According to the census data, the highest level of participation in travel to work by bicycle in 2011 was recorded in Yarra (3,651) and Moreland (3,454).

[Keep in mind the census day was in the middle of the Melbourne winter. The same survey taken today would show much higher figures.]

Between 2006 and 2011, the census data shows that all of the inner zone councils experienced a massive percentage change (between +40.23% and +70.60% change) in people commuting to work by bicycle.

Along with having one of the highest levels of participation in travel to work by bicycle in 2011, Moreland also experienced a great percentage increase in people bicycling to work (+60.43) between 2006 and 2011.

In comparison, the percentage change in people in Moreland travelling to work by car (either as driver or a passenger) experienced a modest percentage change (+8.64) between 2006 and 2011.

In Moreland, more than one person now rides to every ten people who commute to work as a car driver. (In 2011, 33,967 commuted to work as driver and 2,533 as passenger, compared to 3,454 who commuted to work on a bicycle).

This clearly demonstrates that cycling is increasingly being recognised as a viable and legitimate mode of transport.

In terms of participation in commuting on bicycle, here's how the inner and middle zone municipalities performed:

Fig 1: Bicycle as method of travel to work, Inner Zone Councils

Fig 2: Bicycle as method of travel to work, Middle Zone Councils

Data comes from a number of sources, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), VicRoads and the Department of Transport.

Giving census data the eye

29 November 2012. The massive impact of bike commuting in Melbourne has been captured in an amazing graphic which shows where commuters were riding from and going to on census day last year.

Click to download the pdf and enlarge, and keep enlarging, to get the full detail.

Produced by Dr Cameron Munro of CDM Consulting, the infographic clearly displays that the City of Melbourne is a huge magnet for the bike riding workforce.

Equally, it shows that the City's of Yarra, Moreland, Port Phillip and Darebin are home to many enthusiastic bike commuters.

Remember that the census was taken in the middle of a wet and cold Melbourne winter when only the committed riders were out.

A total of 18 local government areas are shown on the chart.

Bikes march outwards and upwards

31 October 2012. The 2011 census has confirmed the inexorable growth of bike commuting in Melbourne, with more people riding to work, and from a wider range of suburbs.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the travel to work data this week.

These maps, click for animation of 2011 and 2006 changes, show the spatial distribution of bike commuters in inner Melbourne. They are by Chris Loader at Charting Transport.

The growth in riding is mainly in the inner northern suburbs, where infrastructure investment has been significant and constant.

There are also signs of growth in the inner east and the south, where infrastructure is less developed and less attractive, but is improving.

The trend shows that Melbourne has many hardy bike commuters who continue to ride in winter—the Census is taken in cold and wet August yet it shows that winter bike commuting is growing and expanding further out.

Total rider numbers for Melbourne are of course much higher in the warmer months.

This latest Census travel data also covers a significantly larger area of Metropolitan Melbourne than previously. The inclusion of distant, car-based suburbs may distort comparative results with the 2006 Census.

Other key findings in the census was that public transport has become much more popular in the last five years, and that motor vehicle mode share has been declining since 1996.

The Census travel data will continue to be analysed in greater detail and this page will be updated as more information becomes available.

More People Cycling More Often!

Oct 2007. The latest Census data gives a detailed snapshot of rider movements reported to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in August 06. This confirms an increase in bicycle commuting.

In a comparison between the capital cities, Melbourne not only had the biggest percentage increase but the biggest increase in raw numbers as well (6,000+).

The diagrams below show the increase by region

Number of Bicycle trips to work by origin - 2001

Number of Bicycle trips to work by origin - 2006

Number of Bicycle trips to work by destination - 2001

Number of Bicycle trips to work by destination - 2006