City of Sydney crafts 12-year project to create a bicycle-friendly city

As Australia’s biggest city, Sydney not only flourishes with culture but also in its industry, commerce and arts. It boasts beautiful harbors, bays and renowned beaches, much-admired national parks and the world famous Sydney Opera House. However, Sydney’s rugged and uneven terrain and its narrow sidewalks and streets are rather disadvantageous by nature to developing bicycle traffic; which is also why bicycle use in Sydney ranks low among all the major cities in Australia.

On November 20 of 2018, the City government announced a 12-year project (2018 to 2030), hoping to build a city even more friendly to bicycles. This project has four strategies listed below:

1. Build a Bike Network:

The City of Sydney found out that more than half the commuters that work in the City live in the neighboring districts, and over 150,000 cars entering Sydney have a commute distance of less than 5 kilometers. Once a convenient and safe bicycle transportation network is built to connect the City of Sydney and the neighboring districts, that would encourage commuters to use bicycles for work, which could achieve the goal of reducing cars entering the City and decrease traffic jams.

2. Support People to Start and Continue Riding:

Different groups such as school children learning how to ride bicycles; families using bicycles as a means of transporting goods; office workers commuting by bicycles; retired people and tourists using bicycles to tour around the city, et al, will be included when promoting bicycles in order to display the diverse use of cycling and its attraction across all age and social groups.

3. Support Business to Encourage Staff to Ride:

The City government and local enterprises have been installing terminal facilities in the downtown center and office buildings, such as safe bicycle parking garages, lockers and shower rooms, etc. These facilities increase the convenience of bicycle commuters, and address the problem of riders not having a place to be able to change into proper office attire.

4. Lead By Example:

The City of Sydney wants to make Sydney a bicycle-friendly city and the best way is to be its own role model. The City government encourages its staff to cycle to work; it sets terminal facilities for bicycles and provides bicycles for staff to use to save on transportation time between meetings, visits, and out for office business, et al. Also, it holds a monthly lunchtime ride to encourage staff to practice cycling and give those new to cycling a chance to learn.

The primary goal of this 12-year project is to reach a 10% bicycle riding rate for commuters to the City by 2030, elevate the safety and usage volume of cyclists, and meet the target rates for each action plan. The City of Sydney decided to create a bicycle-friendly city and serve as the role model for other cities.

Emma Chu

A Taiwanese Australian who grew up in Taiwan and lives in Sydney now. She loves culture, history, gourmet food and outdoor adventure. After a multiyear career as a professional financial journalist in financial newspapers, she developed a second career as a marketer but writing still stays in her mind constantly. Although she lives in Australia she always thinks about Taiwan and looks for opportunities to connect both countries to increase mutual understanding and friendship through cultural interaction.