Cycling provides several benefits for short trips of up to 5 km. It can save time when traffic is congested, as bicycles are often faster than cars for short distances. Cycling also provides health benefits by helping people meet daily activity targets. It saves money both for individuals in lower transportation costs and for societies by reducing infrastructure needs. Shifting more trips to cycling can help the environment by reducing emissions and pollution from motor vehicles. While safety concerns exist, cycling safety improves with more riders and infrastructure that lowers vehicle speeds.

1. Origin of trips to
EACH DAY Gosford City Centre
9000
“Journey to Work Trips”
are made into GCC
 76 % of trips are made by Car
 4 % by Rail
 2 % by Bus
 3 % Walk, Cycle & Other
Source: The Gosford City Centre TMAP (2006 dataset)
Prepared by: •City Centre is made up of travel
Zones 3034, 3038, 3039 and 3044

2. Cycling is......

4. Figure 2- Gosford & Woy Woy Station
“5km/15min Cycling Catchment Areas”
Save Time
Bicycles can be faster than any other
mode of travel1
When travel time is measured from “door
to door” for short-distance trips (up to 5 Km)
on a congested urban road network
(The Australian National Cycling Strategy 2005-2011)
5 km
When travel time is measured from door to door for
short-distance trips up to 5 km long on a congested
urban road network, bicycles can generally be faster
than any other mode of travel.
Figure 1 - Journey time against Distance by Mode in the Urban Environment

5. Get Healthy
 Cycling can help you get your recommended
30 minutes (two 15min bike trips) of activity Figure 3: Schematic illustration depicting the relationships
per day2, and help you: between physical activity and health benefit.
The importance of physical activity and cycling to health
• control your weight
• reduce your risk of chronic disease.
• reduce stress and depression.
• improve concentration and sleep.
• tone and strengthen muscles.
• improve energy levels.
Adapted from Bouchard, 2001
“every adult should accumulate half an hour of moderate-intensity physical activity on at least 5 days per week”3(Commonwealth Health National PA guidelines)

6. Save Money It makes good economic sense to
encourage more cycling.
 The cost savings to society of substituting Table 1- Bike Versus Car (source: Cycling Promotion Fund CYCLING FACT SHEET 05)
bicycle trips for short car trips can be of Time and Cost Comparison: 8 km Commute to CBD6,7,8,9
the order of 60 c/km4, including:
• Reductions in the cost of providing parking
(It costs about $45,000 and 30m2 to provide “1 car park”. Based on
Woy Woy commuter car park)
• Transport makes up 16% of the average
Australian family’s budget, a similar
proportion to housing and food costs5.
• Running an average car in NSW costs
between $7,500 and $16,800 a year6. By cycling, save at least $56.10 and 4.8 hours per week
(a bike costs around 1% of that amount. 42.4 % of Gosford households – even more if parking costs and current fuel prices are considered.
owns 2 or more vehicles, often used to park at commuter car parks)

7. Save the Environment
 Cycling is a sustainable mode of
Figure - Greenhouse gas emissions from different forms of
Transport and friendly to the transport 11
environment.
• About half of the greenhouse gas emissions
produced by an average Australian family are
from transport. In urban areas motor vehicles
are the main source of air pollution10
• Using bicycles to replace short car trips…
means: Less energy, less pollution, and less
space for cars and roads….
• A city…that is designed for higher levels of
cycling can be cleaner… less polluting… and a
more pleasant place to live.

8. Be Safe
 Cycling becomes safer when more Figure 6: Cycling has lower injury rates than most other
people cycle, bike paths and lanes are forms of sport, exercise and active recreations12
provided and the overall speed of traffic
is lower.
• Motor vehicles are the most significant
Source of harm in the transport
system, and pedestrians and cyclists bear
disproportionate burden of traffic risk.
• Road safety is increased by shifting
people out of cars and promoting
cycling, walking and public transport.

9. References •
•
1. Dekoster, J. Schollaert, U. 2000, Cycling: The Way Ahead for Towns and Cities, European
Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment
2. World Health Organisation, 2000, Transport, Environment and Health, RegionalOffice for
Europa, Copenhagen, Denmark, http://www.euro.who.int/document/e72015.pdf, accessed
7/02/08
• 3. Commonwealth Health National PA guidelines,1999; United States Surgeon General, 1996;
Haskell et al, 2007
• 4. Shayler, M. Fergusson, M. & Rowell, A. (1993) Costing the Benefi ts: The Value of Cycling
• 5. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006, Household Expenditure Survey 2003-04,6530.0, Australian
Government, Table 1, http://abs.gov.au, accessed 24/02/2008
• 6. NRMA 2007 dollars, five-year whole-of-cost for average kilometres of new car in each
class, including fuel, maintenance, insurance, licensing, registration, depreciation and opportunity
costs. NRMA Motoring + Services, 2007, Private Whole of Life Vehicle Operating Costs
Report, Available:
http://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xbcr/mynrma/Private_Costs_Report_Summary.pdf?cpssessi
onid=SID-3F5768E2-7F294FFA Accessed 24.02.2008
• 7. Davies, R. 2007, Implementing the Main Roads Cycling Policy, Main Roads Technical Forum
Paper, Brisbane, Department of Main Roads, p6.
• 8 Arundell, L., 2007, The Cost of Cycling presentation at the 2007 Thinking on 2Wheels
conference, University of SA
• 9. Assumptions made in calculating table:
– " Commute is an 8 km trip, time by car = 27.5 minutes, time by bike = 26.4 minutes (ref 19 above).
Assume 10 trips per week.
– " Gym commute: Assume additional 15 minutes commuting time.
– " Gym session: Assume four 60 minute sessions (4 hours of exercise per week) plus 20 minutes change
and shower time. The bike exercise time is 4.4 hours.
– " Car costs based on NRMA 2007 data (ref 3 above). Note they exclude parking costs and petrol prices
in June 2008 are much higher.
– " Bike costs based on data in ref 20 above. Calculations assume journey to work cycling is 2/3 of all
cycling trips.
• 10. Australian Greenhouse Office / CSIRO, National Kilowatt Count of Household Energy Use, 2002
• 11 . Source: Australian Greenhouse Office, 2006
• 12. Research conducted by the British Medical Association found that the health risks of inactivity
are 20 times greater than the health risks posed bya potential cycling accident (British Medical
Association, 1992)