To investigate successful cycling policies and programs in regional centres and smaller cities

Through my Churchill Fellowship, I set out to investigate successful cycling policies and programs in regional centres and smaller cities in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and France. My project aimed to investigate how and why cycling has become a mainstream transport option in these towns and cities and to share this knowledge on my return to Australia. Why is cycling such a fundamental part of the transport system in some European cities? What does this mean for the health, environment and liveability of these cities and what can Australia learn from these places? These are the key questions I set out to answer through my Fellowship. In each location I visited, I met with a wide range of people actively working to make cycling part of everyday transport including government agencies, councils, universities, businesses, non-government organisations and community bike groups. I hired or borrowed a bike in every city I visited which gave me a real insight into how these cities work as cycling places. People often ask me how can snowy Norway or the historic, compact Netherlands be relevant to Australia? My Fellowship has clearly demonstrated that there is so much that can be learned. I experienced many initiatives which are simple, low cost and readily transferable, and it is these learnings which are presented in my report. Fundamentally, the simple answer is that it is quicker, easier and more convenient to go by bike in many of the cycling cities I visited. Why this is and how this can be achieved varies from place to place, but all cycling cities benefit from the social, environmental and economic outcomes that arrive with higher levels of cycling. Reaching similar levels of cycling in Australia’s towns and cities will take a monumental shift in governance, planning, expertise and community perceptions. But one of the key learnings from my Fellowship is that with bold political leadership, a sustained, consistent policy approach and passionate support from at least some in the community, change can happen. Many of Europe’s cycling cities were not always cycling places. Most followed the path of car orientated development in the 1960s and 1970s. However, consensus for change and brave political decisions were a turning point in many places, with incremental improvements in cycling infrastructure over a period of 30 or more years resulting in today’s cycling havens.