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Changes in cycle use in Australia

Introduction

The enactment of helmet laws in Australia in the early 1990s had a major impact on cycle use. Whereas cycle use prior to the laws had been generally increasing, as soon as laws were passed and enforced cycle use fell sharply.

There were early signs that helmet compulsion might cause some people to give up cycling, such as when many students at schools in Victoria chose to give up cycling when they were required to wear helmets pre-law [1]. It would therefore have been sensible for governments to ensure that the effect of compulsory wearing on numbers of cyclists was monitored accurately. This was not done, but some measurements of numbers were made, most being incidental to surveys of helmet wearing.

This page looks at the evidence that is available, nationally and state by state, on trends in cycle use since the passing of helmet laws.

The national picture

The graph below shows census data [2] on cycling to work, according to whether helmet laws were enforced at the time of the 1991 census. Northern Territory has been omitted from this graph as its helmet law was effectively abandoned for adults in 2004 – see state details below.

In all states, cycling to work increased from 1976-1986 (there was a small decline in the number of people cycling from 1981 to 1986 in South Australia only).

The states with enforced laws at the time of the 1991 census (red line on the graph below) saw a reversal of the trend of increasing percentages of people cycling to work. In contrast, the percentage cycling to work in states with no enforced helmet laws (blue line on graph – WA, ACT and Qld) continued to increase, the sharp decline occurring only in the 1996 census, when helmet laws were enforced throughout Australia.

There has been no recovery - the trend continued downward over the next decade, followed by a slight increase in some states in the 2006 census as health authorities in some states try to counteract increasing health problems, due to inactivity and obesity, by increased promotion of cycling.

The table below shows the proportion of single-mode journeys to work made by cyclists in the whole of Australia (including NT). The proportion in 2006 remains much lower than the peak level prior to the helmet laws. The price of petrol is now increasing sharply.

New South Wales Law commenced 1 January 1991 adults, 1 July 1991 children

Prior to the law, cycling was growing strongly in New South Wales, with an increase of 250 per cent during the 1980s in Sydney [3].

Matched official surveys counted 6,072 child cyclists (under 16) passing survey sites in April 1991, before the helmets law commenced to apply to them on 1 July, and 3,887 and 3,478 passing the same sites in April 1992 and 1993, declines of 36 and 43 per cent respectively [4]. The largest recorded reduction in cycling was among secondary female students in Sydney: 214 in 1991 down to 20 in 1993, a drop of 90.6 per cent. The decline in the number of children observed cycling was 5 times that of the number who started to wear a cycle helmet (569 v 2,658).

Although the survey sites were not chosen as a representative sample, consistent across-the-board reductions in numbers counted were found at road intersections, at school gates and in recreational areas, as well as in Sydney inner rural and outer rural areas. This suggests that an almost identical result would have been obtained whatever the choice of sample sites and the declines stated above are realistic estimates of the reduction in cycling.

Census data shows that in 2006 there had still not been a recovery following the decline in people cycling to work [2]:

Victoria Law commenced 1 July 1990

In 1989 (before the helmet law), there were estimated to be 2.2 million cyclists in Victoria, of whom 1.4 million were in Melbourne. Cycling had been booming for some years – in Melbourne there was an increase of 47 per cent in the number of cyclists from 1986 to 1989 [26]. Population growth during the same period was 7.5 per cent.

The helmet law saw a large downturn in cycling. Total bicycle use by children aged 5-17 decreased by 36 per cent from May/June 1990 to May/June 1991 [5]. There were further decreases to May/June 1992 in Melbourne, with teenage cycling showing by then a 46 per cent decrease from pre-law levels [6].

In 1985-6, 3.4 per cent of trips in Melbourne were by bicycle. In 2004 this was only 2.0 per cent, suggesting that cycling was still much reduced compared with before the helmet law [7].

Census data shows that the proportion of people cycling to work in 2006 was growing again but was still much lower than the pre-law levels of the 1980s [2]:

There are some signs of an increase in cycling in the City of Melbourne's Central Business District where 2007 figures show bicycles as 8% of peak-hour (7am-10am) vehicles [24]. However, population in this area is estimated to have more than doubled since 1996, from 39,716 to 85,844 people [24]. Also, the City of Melbourne's own figures for 2006 showed only 2% of workers commuting by bicycle [25].

Queensland Law commenced 1 July 1991, enforced January 1993

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland conducted surveys, mainly of cycling to schools, which showed a decline of 22 per cent from 1990 to 1991 [8]. Owing to changes in the survey conditions, however, the real decline probably exceeded 30 per cent - and it occurred before the law was enforced.

Census data shows a large fall in the proportion of people cycling to work since enactment of the state's helmet law and that the decline continued in 2006. In that year the proportion of people cycling to work was 45 per cent lower than in 1991 [2]:

South Australia Law commenced 1 July 1991

The Office of Road Safety, in reporting its evaluation of helmet legislation, said “Due to the disparate nature of the results from different sources, it is not possible to be conclusive about the effect of the requirement to wear bicycle helmets on the number of cyclists” [9]. The report noted that Harrison's (1994) study of school children showed a 38 per cent decline in cycling from September 1988 to March 1994. This is likely to under-estimate the decline due to the helmet law because cycling is more popular in March than September in southern Australia.

Census data shows that the law led to a 48 percent fall in the proportion of people cycling to work in 2001 compared with 1986, with a small increase in 2006 [2]:

Western Australia Law commenced 1 January 1992, enforced July 1992

Before the law, cycling was enjoying a tremendous increase in popularity in Western Australia. The number of regular cyclists in Western Australia almost doubled between 1982 and 1989 from 220,000 to 400,000 [10].

The law saw the start of a serious decline in cycling, as cycle use in Western Australia fell quickly by 30 per cent or more. [11].

Automatic counters installed on two key cyclist bridges over the Swan river in the capital city of Perth recorded the following weekday cycle movements, averaged over 12 months (July - June) [12]:

Although the 12-month averages are the best record of year-round cycling from 1992, they are not the fairest comparison pre/post law enforcement as the 1991-1992 counts were based on only 9 months. Limiting the count data for all years to 9 months (October to June) shows the following trends::

Another analysis estimated that the decline in cycling on these bridges over each of the first 3 years of the helmet law was 20 per cent, 24 per cent and 35 per cent [13].

The population of Western Australia has been increasing – with 27 per cent growth between 1991 and 2006. Perth has experienced a similar population increase, concentrated particularly in areas close to the Swan river bridges and this might therefore be expected to increase the number of people cycling. To reflect the changing population, the following table shows cycle movements over the Swan river bridges per 1,000 population and based on the 9-month averages shown above [14]:

#: Data from 1998 to 2000 influenced by major bridgeworks and reduced monthly surveys with seasonal variations.

This shows that there has been no lasting recovery in cycle use relative to population since the enactment of the helmet law. The temporary growth in cycling from 2000 to 2002 coincided with an AUD 1.5 million cycling promotion campaign by the WA Government, but the same level of cycle use appears not to have been maintained when this ended. Moreover, there has been the loss of potentially many more years of cycling growth following on from the large increase in cycling pre-law.

In the five years following 1991, the number of children cycling to school fell by more than a half. [15]. A 1992 survey commented that the number of children cycling to primary schools and the number of recreational cyclists declined from 1991 to February 1992 [16]. Over the first three years of the law, there was an average decline in cycle use of 26 per cent on weekdays and 40 per cent on Sundays, suggesting that optional recreational cycling was particularly discouraged [17]. A 1993 survey presents limited data which show a decline in numbers of WA children cycling to school [17] and a decline of over 50 per cent for cycling classed as recreational. One bike hire company reported the loss of 90 per cent of its business overnight. Within 6 months of the law, 5 cycle shops went bankrupt and bike sales were down by 70 per cent [18].

A large and continuing fall in utility cycling can be seen from census data for cycling to work [2]:

This shows a fall of 33 per cent in cycling to work since 1991 despite the cycling promotion campaign by the WA Government in 2000 and a doubling of petrol prices over the period. A 2004 report noted that there had been a shift away from regular utility cycling and in the average age of cyclists, with considerably fewer children riding [19].

Further information about Western Australian cycling levels is available here.

Australian Capital Territory Law commenced 1 July 1992

Automatic counters on bicycle paths registered declines from 1991 to a similar period in 1992 of about one third on weekdays and about half at weekends [20].

Census data shows that, despite the law, the proportion of people cycling to work continued to increase [2]:

Northern Territory Law commenced 1 January 1992, amended 2004

After the law was first introduced, a street survey in Darwin found that 20 per cent of people had given up cycling as a result of the law and 42 per cent cycled less [21].

The Road Safety Council of the Northern Territory did surveys which showed there was little change just after the law in the numbers of children cycling to primary schools, but a decline of 17 per cent by the following year. Numbers cycling to secondary schools declined by 36 per cent soon after the law and were down 39 per cent within a year [22]. These figures would under-estimate the effect of the law because two of the schools surveyed had themselves introduced compulsory wearing before the law. One report on the surveys noted that secondary students had earlier advised that “if it was made compulsory to wear helmets they would decide whether to comply or not to ride".

Counts of commuter cyclists showed a dramatic decline of about half following the law [23]:

Census data shows a 36 per cent decline in the proportion of people cycling to work from 1991 to 2006 [2]:

One source suggests that the proportion of people cycling to work increased to 4.2 per cent following the NT law's amendment in 2004, the effect of which was to remove the need for adults to wear helmets on cycle paths while enforcement and helmet use fell greatly. At the same time there was an increase to 15.35 per cent of people cycling for recreation or sport and, significantly, an increase in the proportion of women cycling [7].

Tasmania Law commenced 1 January 1991

There would seem to be little data available about cycling in Tasmania.

Census data suggests that the helmet law had relatively little effect on the proportion of people cycling to work and that an initial fall after the law soon recovered [2]. However, the number of people cycling in Tasmania is only a small proportion of a small population.

References

[1] Evidence given to House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport Safety, 1985, p.1078
[2] Census data from Australian Bureau of Statistics.
[3] Cycling in Europe. Proceedings of a national bicycle conference, Melbourne, March 1992. Bicycle Federation of Australia, 1992.
[4] Smith, N.C. and Milthorpe, F.W., An observational survey of law compliance and helmet wearing by bicyclists in New South Wales - 1993, for the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority, Sydney, 1993.
[5] Cameron, M., Heiman, L. and Neiger, D., Evaluation of the bicycle helmet wearing law in Victoria during its first 12 months, Report No. 32, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Melbourne, July 1992, p.6.
[6] Finch, C.F., Heiman, L. and Neiger, D., Bicycle use and helmet wearing rates in Melbourne, 1987 to 1992: the influence of the helmet wearing law, Monash University, Accident Research Centre report no. 45, February 1993, pp. 35, 36, 43.
[7] Australia bicycle ownership and use. Australian Bicycle Council, 2004.
[8] Wikman, J. and Sims, C., Bicycle helmet wearing surveys 1990 and 1991, Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, Brisbane.
[9] Marshall, J. and White, M., Office of Road Safety Report Series 8/94, South Australian Department of Transport, Walkerville, South Australia, 1994, pp.i,11.
[10] Robinson DL. Safety in numbers in Australia: more walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and bicycling. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 2005;16:47-51.
[11] Hendrie D, Legge M, Rosman D, Kirov C. An Economic Evaluation of the Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Legislation in Western Australia. Road Accident Prevention Research Unit, University of Western Australia.
[12] Cyclist survey data from Main Roads (Western Australian Government roads department). See spreadsheets here and here.
[13] Robinson DL. Head injuries and bicycle helmet laws. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 1996 Jul;28(4):463-75.
[14] Population data from Australian Bureau of Statistics.
[15] News release. BikeWest, WA Department of Transport, 19th March 1996.
[16] Healy, M. and Maisey, G., The impact of helmet wearing legislation and promotion on bicyclists in Western Australia, Traffic Board of Western Australia, Perth, 1992.
[17] Heathcote, B., Bicyclist helmet wearing in Western Australia: a 1993 review, Traffic Board of Western Australia, Perth, 1993.
[18] Oz helmet fiasco. Cycling Weekly. 11th December 1993.
[19] The West Australian, 10th March 2004.
[20] Ratcliffe, P., Bicycling in the ACT - a survey of bicycle riding and helmet wearing in 1992, ACT Department of Urban Services, Canberra, July 1993.
[21] Mead P. Bike helmet survey results. CTRAC, Alice Springs, October 1993.
[22] Van Zyl, R. Bicycle helmet wearing in the Northern Territory, May 1993, and 1993 bicycle helmet survey report, Road Safety Council of the Northern Territory, GPO Box 1176, Darwin.
[23] Private communication from Road Safety Council of the Northern Territory, October 1993.
[24] Melbourne - a snapshot, City of Melbourne, Town Hall 90-120 Swanston Street Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia
[25] Melbourne Bicycle Account - Cycling Census 2007, City of Melbourne, Town Hall 90-120 Swanston Street Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia.
[26] Lambert J. Number of cyclists, bicyclist trips and bicyclist accident reports in Victoria, 1986 - 1989. Vic Roads internal report, May 1990.