By Jim Krynen, PTA cycling integration manager
AM I preaching to the converted or are there some readers left who can’t see the benefits of cycling?
Any parent and every child recognises that cycling is a relaxed and fun form of exercise, of family bonding and of enjoying the outdoors.
The camaraderie among weekend leisure cyclists in Perth is so strong that it feels like a giant family outing.
People who cycle to work have their reasons for choosing that form of transport – health. They do it to save on transport costs, convenience or simply for the enjoyment.
Cyclists improve vehicle traffic. Every cyclist is also a motorist, just a motorist who sometimes refuses to use a car.
One more cyclist on the road is one less car in the freeway traffic.
Unfortunately, some drivers can’t see the symbiosis. They will complain that they – and only they – have the right to safe, individual mobility.
The more the people who think this way, the more drivers there will be.
This in turn will place greater demands on our community to make more room for cars and, like some cities in the US, we will remove parks and walking paths to make more room for more cars.
Most of what destroys the quality of life in modern cities results from trying to make more room for cars.
Demand at Perth train station car parks is so heavy that new car parks are needed. Yet in a recent Public Transport Authority survey, 60 per cent of cars parked in these suburban railway stations had driven less than three kilometres. That’s equivalent to a 10-minute cycle.
Yet cycling can be an obvious choice for thousands of Perth commuters.
The bicycle is no longer a backyard toy.
Perth is at the beginning of the long-standing European trend where the bicycle is an integral – and often priority – form of transport in medium to large density towns and cities. Cities like Perth.
The belief that you need a cup of tea and a lie-down after a three-kilometre cycle is totally wrong, as is the belief that you need a shower and new clothing after a ride (though each case is different).
And cycling doesn’t have to be the sole form of transport.
Most cyclists own cars, pay registration fees and use their cars for longer trips and in circumstances where the car is more convenient.
Local authorities and the State Government are continuously expanding Perth’s bicycle network of shared paths and on-road cycling facilities. It is already one of the best in Australia and one that makes use of the city’s predominantly flat coastal terrain.
And the PTA isn’t giving up on its commitment to people who want to cycle to trains stations either – new convenient, secure, sheltered bicycle parking is continually being rolled out.