Commuting trends in Australia
Commuter cycling to work in Australia dropped sharply following the
enactment of mandatory bicycle helmet legislation.
In the table below, blue figures refer to
censuses carried out before the enforcement of bike helmet legislation (the date
for which varied from state to state), and the red
figures refer to censuses carried out when helmet use was compulsory.
In all cases, the proportion of people commuting by bike remained lower in
2001 than it was prior to the enactment of the helmet laws a decade before.
|
Census Year |
Brisbane |
Melbourne |
Perth |
Sydney |
All Australia |
|
1976 |
0.71% |
0.97% |
0.92% |
0.36% |
1.11% |
|
1981 |
1.05% |
1.21% |
1.16% |
0.63% |
1.47% |
|
1986 |
1.16% |
1.05% |
1.37% |
0.66% |
1.63% |
|
1991 |
1.53% |
1.05% |
1.68% |
0.74% |
1.63% |
|
1996 |
1.16% |
0.92% |
1.11% |
0.61% |
1.21% |
|
2001 |
1.11% |
1.00% |
1.12% |
0.60% |
1.15% |
The effect of helmet legislation in discouraging cycling has been greater
amongst women than men, as shown in the table below. The shift in cycle use away
from women is in contradiction to the increasing proportion of women in the
workforce - 37% in 1976 rising to 43% in 2001.
|
Census Year |
Adelaide |
Male/Female ratio |
|
1976 |
2.3% |
2.6 to 1 |
|
1981 |
2.2% |
3.0 to 1 |
|
1986 |
2.3% |
3.5 to 1 |
|
1991 |
2.0% |
4.5 to 1 |
|
1996 |
1.2% |
5.0 to 1 |
|
2001 |
1.2% |
4.7 to 1 |
Source: National Census
