To think about our target audiences and what we really want to achieve I asked my #APCC Think Tank what they think cycling success will look like 10 years from now.
This is what they said.
- People of all shapes and sizes riding bicycles
- Infrastructure accommodation is much improved for cyclists
- Less cars
- Women cycling
- Less lycra
- People less concerned about safety
- Safety improvements
- Safe and efficient bike routes (central and decentralised)
- Can’t find a place to park my bike
- People just using bikes and not making a big point of it
- Always seeing people riding bicycles
- Increased participation levels
- Strong commercialisation
- Cycling in the school curriculum
- If the mode share targets are met
- Prevalence of cycling infrastructure
- Change in general of traffic attitudes to cycling
- Cycling is mainstream and something that ordinary people do
- Lots of bicycles on the roads
- Everyone cycling to work
- All kids cycling to school
- More room on the roads for bikes
- More cyclists (percentage)
- Better facilities
- New lycra
- More women
- More infrastructure
- Everyone owns a bicycle
- Completed network
- No cars
- Double the current mode share
- Roads dominated by cyclists
- More electric bikes
- More kids riding bikes to get around
- Young people cycling to school and university
- People choosing to ride a bike rather than driving a car
- 10% mode share
- 10% mode funding
- 100% of schools with bike shed sand bike parking
- 90% of kids riding
- Cycling standard in schools
- Lots of people using bikes for as a everyday mode of transport
- Pedestrians and cyclists at the top of the transport hierarchy
- Harmony
- Many commuter cyclists
- Respect from majority of other road users
- P platers not aiming at cyclists
- Roads clogged with bikes
- We wouldn’t be talking about cycling
- Cycling is mainstream… everyone just does it
- 100% of people ride in a year
We rated the comments – using the sticky red dot system! – the highest ranking success factors were:
- More women cycling
- Less Lycra
- Cycling is mainstream… everyone just does it
- We wouldn’t be talking about cycling
- Roads dominated by cyclists
Now we got the basis of a social media campaign and a cycling strategy
What do you think success will look like?
In 10 years time I can see two things happening around the convergence of transport modes.
Firstly I beleve cars will still continue to be a viable transport mode. The method of propulsion will change as we move away from fossil fuels, but they will still be a viable mode to move groups of people medium to long distances. But what I do see is car makers adapting their car offerings to be more “bike sympathetic”. At the moment, if you want to take your family somewhere remotely for a bike ride, you first have to install the bike carrier – which entails a messy process of either removing the tow ball on your car and installing a bike rack, or installing a special roof rack, or removing one or more wheels off your bike and trying to fit it into the back of your car. Future “bike smart” cars will have the ability to carry multiple bikes built into their basic structure.
Secondly, in much the same way, public transport will be a lot more “bike friendly”. At the moment, we (in Brisbane) are limited to off-peak rail and ferry services if we want to move our bikes from point A to point B (and you can forget buses). In 10 years time, public transport modes will incorporate dedicated facilities to move bikes on all services, and the associated infrastructure (railway platforms etc) will likewise be “bike friendly”.
Coles and Woolworths would be collecting ‘cycle trolleys’ from the side of the road.
More drivers are cyclists so driver behaviour is better.
Good work Rachel and APCC delegates!
That’s awesome Alvin. Thank you
I loved the Think Tanks they were so much fun – Only wish the economy was brighter and then I could have attended the whole Congress… but I am enjoying participating via twitter!
David, LOTS of bike racks use the tow ball! I have a Thule, it is fantastic, goes on the ball in a second and holds 3 bikes. You are not spending enough time surfing the net! 😉
Thanks Adella
Hi Adella, back when I had a conventional sedan car, if I used my tow-ball type bike carrier, I couldn’t open my car boot when it was installed. So I ended up having to install it and remove it all the time. That’s a nuisance. I don’t have that problem now because I have a 4WD with a rear mounted spare tyre that my bike carrier mounts to. But my point was that in the future, as cycling becomes more pervasive, car manafacturers will have to incorporate the ability to carry bikes into their basic vehicle design. And the same with public transport.
Given that the points above accurately describe the present reality of quite some cities in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands – I’m really wondering about the reasons for the markedly different lifestyle here in Australia.
And: Is there a perceived dissatisfaction with the present situation? Or, the other way round: A desire to change from the car to the bike?