Bicycle Network: Skill Up

Melbourne bike riders always knew they were smart -- now research proves it!

6 November 2008. Data from the 2006 census shows that better educated Melbourne people now comprise the greater share of those who ride.

And the greatest rate of growth occurred in those with post-graduate degrees -- doubling from 2001 to 2006.

Most people who ride to work are white collar workers -- 74 per cent compared with 61 per cent in the 2001 census.

The greatest growth in those riding to work since 1996 has been in the high and very high income brackets, i.e., those earning more than $1000 per week.

Even so, the number of blue collar workers who ride to work is still increasing faster than the the rate of workforce growth.

Overall, counting all kinds of full time employees, riding to work increased 7.4 per cent between 2001-2006 while the size of the workforce only lifted 1.3 per cent.

Inner Melbourne is where the growth in cycling and walking has been the most significant, with the largest proportion of journeys either starting or finishing in the City of Melbourne.

Yarra, Moreland, Darebin and Port Phillip also had high cycling rates.

Males accounted for 74 per cent of those cycling to work in Melbourne in 2006, but the number of females had increased steadily since the 1996 census.