Letter – Increase in cycling to work in Sydney: analysis of journey-to-work Census data from 1996 and 2001

Abstract

Introduction: Reports indicate that cycling has increased among residents of Perth, Western Australia, and that bicycle ownership among Sydney residents increased between 1991 and 2001 by 40%. Anecdotal reports from local bicycle user groups (BUGs) suggest that more people are cycling in inner Sydney in recent years. To investigate this claim and determine current levels of cycling, we analysed journey-to-work (JTW) data from the 1996 and 2001 Australian Census of Health and Housing, collected from people whose journey-to-work origin or destination was a Statistical Local Area (SLA) in Sydney or the greater metropolitan region. These data were purchased from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Use of a bicycle on any part of the journey to work was coded as ‘bicycle used’. SLAs of Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Newcastle and Wollongong were coded as inner Sydney if they were within 10 kilometres of Central Station in Sydney, outer Sydney for the remaining Sydney SLAs and the rest as the greater metropolitan region (the Blue Mountains SLA was included in this group). To identify inner Sydney SLAs, we used a suburban Sydney Gregory's map and a compass to plot and demarcate all suburbs that were in and outside a 10-kilometre radius of Sydney Central Station.