Cycling participation in South Australia

Also see cycling participation in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

Road surveys are considered a gauge of community cycling participation. Mandatory bicycle helmet laws were enforced in South Australia for all ages from 1 July 1991.

In their submission to the 2015/16 Australian Senate Committee of Inquiry into Personal Choice and Community Impacts (#287), academics from the University of NSW included the figures below as evidence that cycling participation in South Australia wasn't affected by the mandatory bicycle helmet law.

Their calculations are based on the 1990 and 1993 Health Omnibus Survey all-age results in Evaluation of the Compulsory Helmet Wearing Legislation for Bicyclists in South Australia authored by J. Marshall and M. White and published in 1994 by the South Australian Department of Transport.

South Australia's population in 1990 was 1,432,056, of which 21.8% is 312,188 people cycling at least once a week.

The National Cycling Participation survey (p11) estimated that 16.6% of the population, or 279,900 South Australians, cycled weekly in 2015.

Roy Morgan research published in May 2015 estimated that 19% of the population aged 14+, or 269,640 South Australians, cycled regularly in 2014/15.

South Australia's total population increased 18.6% from 1,432,056 in 1990 to 1,698,594 in 2015.

Below is extracted from the Evaluation of the Compulsory Helmet Wearing Legislation for Bicyclists in South Australia referenced above.

The data above suggest that based on 1990 and 1993 surveys of 3,000 households across South Australia, the percentage of respondents aged 15yo+ who cycled at least one a week fell 1.6%, and the percentage aged <15yo increased 0.4% - with female participation declining 0.7% and 3.9% respectively.

The data above suggest that based on September/October counts of cyclists entering the City of Adelaide at 18 observation stations from 7am to 10am, numbers dropped 13.7% from pre-law September 1990 to post-law October 1993.

The data above suggest that non-preventable cyclist injuries (not influenced by helmet wearing) treated in South Australian hospitals declined 26.6% from pre-law 1990/91 to post-law 1991/92, the authors reporting this was probably due to reduced cycling participation.

The data above suggest that the average number of daily cyclists in Adelaide fell by 55% between pre-law 1986 and post-law 1999.

Below is extracted from Moving Australians Sustainably: Transport Policy in the National Interest August 2007.

The data above suggest that the proportion of children cycling to Adelaide schools fell from 14% in 1981 to 4.5% in 1997.

Below is extracted from RAA Member Panel: Cycling published 2014 by the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia.

The survey above of its member panel by the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia found 20% would cycle more if not required to wear a helmet, with 8% not knowing, and 36% believed either that helmets should not be mandatory or only mandatory in certain locations.

Adelaide Travel Patterns : An Overview reports that from 1986 to 1999, The most significant decline in mode share occurred in cycling, where the mode share declined by 55%.

Bicycle Crashes in South Australia by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research at the University of Adelaide notes that according to household travel surveys, the numbers of person trips per day by bicycle in Adelaide were 0.089 million in 1986 and 0.040 million in 1999, a decrease of 55 per cent. The decline in pedal cyclist casualties was not as great, some 33 per cent. However, a simple comparison like this is not very meaningful - the age pattern of cyclist casualties has changed considerably, and number of trips may not be a very good measure of cycling. In brief, what may have occurred is a substantial decrease in short cycling trips by children (and thus an increase in average trip length). Harrison estimated that from 1988 to 1994 there was a decline of 38 per cent in the number of children cycling to school in South Australia. The decline in pedal cyclist casualties aged 5-15 from 1988 to 1994 was 42 per cent.

Below is extracted from a letter to the editor in the March 1993 edition of the Medical Journal of Australia, and is based on the total number of patients treated in the neurosurgical department of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Below is extracted from Day to Day Travel in Australia 1985-86 published 1988 by the Federal Office of Road Safety.

Across South Australia, the data above suggest that when surveyed over the full 12 months of 1985/86 including winter, there were 171,100 bike trips per day by South Australian cyclists aged 9+.

Below is extracted from 2011 Australian Cycling Participation published by Austroads and the Australian Bicycle Council.

Across South Australia, the data above suggest that when surveyed in the warm months of March and April, 188,321 people in South Australia aged 10+ cycled per week in 2011, which equates (multiplied by an average 4.7 trips per week in South Australia divided by seven days) to an average 126,444 trips per day.

Compared to the 171,100 in 1985/86, this represents a decrease of 26.1% from 1985/86 to 2011, with the population of South Australia increasing 22.2% from 1986 to 2011 (1,345,945 to 1,644,642).

It should be noted that 1985/86 was five years before helmet law enforcement in South Australia.

The tables below show state percentages of cycling weekly, monthly and yearly based on 2011 Australian Cycling Participation, 2013 Australian Cycling Participation, 2015 Australian Cycling Participation, 2017 Australian Cycling Participation and 2019 Australian Cycling Participation published by Austroads and the Australian Bicycle Council.

The data above show there was a decrease in South Australian weekly cycling participation from 2011 to 2019 - down from 17.9% to 13.0%, while monthly cycling declined from 27.0% to 18.5% and yearly cycling declined from 39.3% to 29.8%.

Aged 9+, the data above suggest daily bike trips decreased 61.1% from 1985/86 to 2019 (171,000 > 66,504), despite South Australian 9yo+ population growth of 30.9% from 1985 to 2019 (1,197,382 > 1,567,735).

All road and telephone survey data above suggest a decline in South Australian cycling participation which is ongoing till 2019 on a per capita basis.

Also see cycling participation in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

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