coolmelbourne.org

There’s been a steady rise in traffic lately. Bike traffic, that is.

People who are fed up with spending their mornings and afternoons in traffic jams or wasting time waiting for trains that never arrives are taking to the streets on their bikes.

The number or cyclists is growing rapidly: in Sydney the number of bike commuters has risen by 20% every year for the past five years, while in Melbourne the number of riders increased more than 60% in the five years to 2006!

It’s not just kids and uni students who are turning to cycling: apparently cycling is now the corporate world’s new transport of choice! The Australian Financial Review recently featured a story about how commuting to work on a bike is a great way for “time-poor, health-conscious white-collar workers” to save time and money getting to and from the office, and that you “can also do your networking on a bike when on a group ride”.

We’re not sure about how that last point would work in city traffic, but being on a bike is indeed a beautiful thing: if you live in the city, it’s often faster to ride to work than it is to drive; you avoid the traffic jams and the road works; you get free parking right outside your front door; your rear-end and thighs look the better for it; you get to fill your lungs with fresh air on the way to and from work instead of icky public transport air-conditioning; and your environment gets a boost.

What’s more, many city offices now provide bike storage facilities to accommodate the growing number of cyclists, and the government is investing considerably in cycling infrastructure to make cycling a safer and easier option for commuters.

Click here to visit Bicycle Victoria's website and find out all you need to know about cycling in Victoria including cycling to work or school, road rules and safety tips for cyclists, insurance for cyclists, maps on cycle routes around the city and around the state, and general bike and accessory information.