The Northern Territory continues to cement its position as Australia’s bike riding capital with Super Tuesday North data revealing an almost even spread of male and female riders today.
Currently, Super Tuesday data shows that only one in three bike riders are women across the rest of Australia.
While full results are still to come, Alice Springs is topping the territory so far for female participation with data from six count sites indicating almost 40% of riders are women.
Counters along Undoolya Road in the Alice recorded 51% of women riders at the intersection of Leichardt Terrace, and 46% at the intersection on Raggatt Street.
Darwin is also faring well so far, where data from 10 of 51 sites shows that 27% of riders are women. The busiest site in Darwin was the Rapid Creek Path bridge where more than 150 riders were spotted this morning.
Last year Darwin was the first place in Australia to record a 50/50 gender split, and as more data rolls in from volunteers it is expected numbers will further improve.
Over east in Townsville, the Ross River Pathway proved to be the most popular place to ride among locals. Initial data showed almost 200 riders used path to get to work in the morning and it also recorded large percentages of female riders – up to almost 40% in some locations.
Bicycle Network Chief Executive Officer Craig Richards said preliminary Super Tuesday North data is promising and indicated local councils are on the right track.
“So far the data shows that to get even more people riding we need safe and separated places to ride,” said Mr Richards.
“Dedicated paths and lanes that keep bikes away from cars have recorded the most amount of riders and most even gender splits.”
Super Tuesday North records where, when and who is riding and is used by councils to guide transport decisions and make it easier for locals to ride bikes.
Bike riders were counted in Darwin, Palmerston, Alice Springs and Katherine in the NT, and Moreton Bay, Redlands, Townsville and Toowoomba in Queensland. See a map with all specific locations here.
Super Tuesday North has been conducted by Bicycle Network since 2010. Southern states are counted during the first Tuesday in March.