Bicycle Network partnered with the city to study seven key sites across the council area in late March, to better understand the demographics of bike riders, and their behavior. See the map below.

A total of 4804 riders were recorded across the seven sites, 20% were women.

The highest proportion of women riders was recorded at Wilson Street (29%), and the lowest proportion (15%) per each were recorded at O’Dea Avenue and Gadigal Avenue site and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Food delivery riders represented over one fifth of riders at the Mary-Ann Street and Jones Street intersection and at the corner of O’Dea Avenue and Gadigal Avenue. 

The biggest numbers of e-scooters and e-skateboards (45 or 5%) were recorded at Pyrmont Bridge Road.

At the O’Dea and Gadigal Street site, 13 bikes (4%) had children on board.

Information gained from the Custom Rider Demographic Surveys allows the City of Sydney to better understand demographics of riders and determine what infrastructure changes and bike riding programs should be implemented to make riding accessible for more people.

Surveys took place on the morning peak of Tuesday 28 March and the afternoon peak of Wednesday 29 March, which were key locations nominated by active transport planners.

Data collection involves counters noting bike rider information at each site, including an estimate of the rider’s gender, where the person was riding (i.e. cycleway, road, footpath), and other characteristics such as the type of rider (share bike, e-scooter, bike with child seat, delivery rider) and whether the riders wore helmets.

The surveys provide compelling baseline data that can reveal changes in rider types as the ridership increases and the riding community continues to diversify. Recording the diversity of riders enables councils to gain better insights into where changes are needed to promote greater inclusivity and better riding conditions for everyone.

Main image; Adam Hollingworth/City of Sydney

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Now in it’s 30th year, Ride2Work Day is all about normalising the idea of riding to work with a bike. It encourages people who have never ridden to work before to give it a go, and it allows regular riders to stay motivated and encourage their work mates to get involved.

This year, Bicycle Network held celebrations for National Ride2Work Day in Melbourne and Hobart.

We hosted our renowned annual breakfast on Harbour Esplanade at Docklands where thousands of city-bound commuters dropped in for coffee, muffins, and bananas. There was also live entertainment and free bike tune-ups from friendly bike mechanics.

And it wasn’t just Bicycle Network bringing the cheer! Many breakfasts were hosted across the country to celebrate and encourage the benefits of riding to work.

Riders out in big numbers

Bicycle Network’s Transport Data team were out counting riders during the mroning. A total of 2407 riders were counted across our three Melbourne Ride2Work sites this morning.

The team counted 936 bike riders along Harbour Esplanade between 7am and 9am. This is a massive increase when compared to the 430 riders counted at the intersection of Collins Street and Harbour Esplanade during Super Tuesday in March this year, a more than two-fold increase!

Canning Street was also packed with pedals. Our team counted a total of 805 riders across the two-hour period, a huge increase from the 494 riders counted at the same site during Super Tuesday  in March.

Today’s surveys suggest that commuter riding numbers may be back on the rise. 

Thank you!

Bicycle Network would like to thank everyone who rode their bikes today and made National Ride2Work Day the exciting celebration that it is!

Whether you’re a daily bike commuter, a first-time rider, or you just dropped by for a free muffin!

You’re helping to spread the good word about the benefits of riding to work and making it more accessible for people in the future.

You can also share some of your memories from the day using #Ride2Work and by tagging @Bicycle_Network.

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