Traffic data from Sydney and Brisbane has shown what will happen to our roads if pop-up bike lanes aren't installed before Australian workers return to the office.
Classes have returned in the northern states, and with it, a busier than usual school gate rush.
Information from mapping company TomTom has found that the number of cars on the road at drop-off and pick-up times has increased when compared with the same time last year.
A report by Nine.com.au shows that congestion has been particularly bad in Brisbane, where traffic increased by up to 50% around 9:00am.
After the peak school times of 9:00am and 3:00pm traffic dropped below average, including at 5:00pm when people are usually heading home from work.
The data paints a bleak picture for our cities if pop-up bike lanes are not installed as an alternative solution for people who can no longer be squeezed onto public transport in a post-COVID world.
If traffic is already worse than pre-COVID at school drop-off times—when there are invariably other people driving to and from work—we can only imagine how bad it will get when offices reopen.
Bicycle Network's plan to ride out of coronavirus, Pedalling to a better normal, proposes 750km of protected bike lanes around the country to help us avoid choking our roads with cars.
Cities around the world have been installing pop-up bike lanes and transforming road space to help people ride and walk. In Leeds in the UK roads near schools have been closed at drop-off times to encourgae riding and walking.
The feedback from Leeds #SchoolStreets on the ground is, so far, overwhelming positive. One parent who had to park elsewhere came back on foot with their child and said, 'This is great, I hope you make this permanent.' pic.twitter.com/iC6kbRL4lP
— Connecting Leeds (@ConnectingLeeds) June 3, 2020
To help school students in Victoria and Tasmania, Bicycle Network's Ride2School program has launched a Give it a Go, a program designed to help people start riding to school.
The Give it a Go guide and active travel checklist.has tips and information to help people get set up to go to school by bike including how to make sure your bike is ready to ride, what you might want to bring and how to choose a route to ride.
Click here to read more about Bicycle Network's Pedalling to a better normal campaign.
Click here to read Coronavirus worsening school run traffic in Sydney and Brisbane on 9news.com.au.