Australian Cycling Conference 2010 Proceedings of the Second Australian Cycling Conference Australian Cycling Conference and The University of Adelaide Australian Cycling Conference 2010 Proceedings of the second Australian Cycling Conference Jennifer Bonham and Peter Lumb EDITORS Australian Cycling Conference and The University of Adelaide Adelaide SA 5005, Australia Conference sponsors Organising committee Fay Patterson Jeremy Miller Peter Lumb Stu Clement (Convenor) Jennifer Bonham Editors Jennifer Bonham Peter Lumb Australian Cycling Conference C/- Geographical & Environmental Studies The University of Adelaide Adelaide South Australia 5005 © Copyright The copyright of papers reproduced in this volume but previously published in Road and Transport Research is reserved by the Australian Road Research Board. The copyright for all other papers in this volume is reserved by the authors. Published: December 2010 ISBN: 978-0-646-54740-4 ACC Logo: Ian Radbone Cover and book design: Chloe Smith Contents Contents Page Preface iii Jennifer Bonham and Peter Lumb Representations of cycling in metropolitan newspapers – Changes over time and differences between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia 1 Chris Rissel, Catriona Bonfiglioli, Adrian Emilsen, Ben J Smith Limitations on the use of the term ‘cyclist’ to describe people who ride bicycles 11 Russell Greig The disruptive traveller? A Foucauldian analysis of cycleways 15 Jennifer Bonham, Peter Cox Cycling to school 29 Leon Arundell The application of a naturalistic driving method to investigate on-road cyclist behaviour: A feasibility study 39 Marilyn Johnson, Judith Charlton, Jennie Oxley Cycling and roundabouts: An Australian perspective 51 Fay Patterson Concepts for a cycle network upgrade for Adelaide 69 Stephen Russell A longitudinal assessment of impact on two mountain bike trails built to sustainable standards 91 Stuart Clement Mapping mountain bike trails and associated features 109 Paul Corcoran, Adrian Billiau The evolution and dynamics of bicycle design 121 Leon Arundell Australian cycling conference 2010 program 135 AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE 2010 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE i Contents AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE 2010 ii PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE Preface Preface The Australian Cycling Conference 2010 is the most recent in a series of annual conferences designed to showcase the very latest in cycling research, planning and practice. The conference series commenced in 2005 as Thinking on Two Wheels and has been held each January to coincide with the Tour Down Under cycle race. The Australian Cycling Conference 2010 was held at the University of Adelaide on 18–19 January 2010. The Australian Cycling Conference 2010 is of national significance as it is the only forum in Australia to have as a core aim advancing and promoting the development of rigorous research into cycling. The Conference also actively encourages academics, policy makers, practitioners (government and private sector) and community organisations to exchange knowledge about cycling in all its forms. Cycling spans institutional boundaries drawing experts from the government, community and private sectors and it ranges across disciplinary boundaries bringing together researchers and professionals from transport, engineering, health, geography, urban planning, sociology and the environmental and spatial sciences. Associate Professor Ineke Spape from Breda University of Applied Sciences (NHTV) and SOAB Consultants, Netherlands, was the invited Guest Speaker at the 2010 Conference. Ineke specialises in walking and cycle planning and she has provided expertise to cities such as London, Cape Town, Quito (Ecuador) and New York. At this year’s cycling conference, Ineke introduced the concept of a Bicycle Oriented Society and discussed the lessons Australia might learn from the Dutch experience – both the pitfalls to be avoided and practices that could be embraced. Professor Ian Lowe, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, emeritus professor at Griffith University drew on his capacity as prolific science researcher, policy analyst and cyclist and presented a diverse range of evidence to point to the necessity of cycling when creating a sustainable future. Speakers at the 2010 conference came from New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands and they spoke on a diverse range of themes. These included presentations on the current status of utility cycling in different localities and amongst different groups and the mechanisms – e.g. programs and infrastructure – being put in place to encourage more people to cycle. Several presenters offered critical analyses of existing cycling infrastructure – signage, roundabouts, cycle-lanes – and, drawing on international examples, provided suggestions on how things might be done differently. Two speakers discussed methods for researching cyclist preferences and cyclist on- road behaviour while another cluster of presenters reflected on representations of cyclists: in the media; amongst existing and potential cyclists; and in the knowledge we produce about cycling. A handful of papers turned attention to issues of funding, technological changes, cycle design and cycle planning as a tool in engineering education. The diversity of cycling interests was on display with a set of papers on evaluating environmental impacts of mountain biking trails and techniques for mapping mountain bike trails. The 2010 conference also included roundtable discussions. The conference evaluation revealed that this aspect of the program was highly valued. Roundtable participants had the opportunity to each contribute ideas and then explore aspects of cycling based on their knowledge of cycling issues and their experiences as cyclists. Roundtable topics were those which gained prominence during the conference. Roundtables also provided a balance to listening to conference speakers and an opportunity to form cycling knowledge networks across Australia. The editors have included both refereed and non-refereed papers in this volume to provide an enduring record of the range of work presented at the 2010 Conference. The status of each paper as refereed or non-refereed has been indicated in the footer at the bottom of the first page of each paper. AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE 2010 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE iii Preface All refereed papers have been subject to an independent double blind referee process. Each refereed paper has been reviewed by at least two, and in several cases three, experts in the field: generally including one national and one international reviewer. Four of the papers presented at the conference were subsequently published in a special issue of the journal Road and Transport Research while another was published in the on-line open access journal BMC Public Health. Prior publication has been acknowledged on the first page of the relevant papers. The editors would like to thank these journals and the authors for allowing us to reprint the papers in full in this volume. The editors, on behalf of the organising committee, would like to thank the organisations and companies who sponsored the Australian Cycling Conference 2010. These include Adelaide City Council, Bicycle Institute of South Australia, City of Charles Sturt, infraPlan, Planning Institute of Australia (SA Division), Sustainable Transport Consultants, Tonkin Consulting and Traffic Calming Australia. We would also like to say a special thank you to Hub Traffic and Transport for the significant in-kind and financial support provided to the conference and preparation of the conference proceedings. Finally, we would like to thank the University of Adelaide for its ongoing support of the Australian Cycling Conference series. In 2010, this involved financial assistance for the visit of guest speaker Ineke Spape and in-kind support in the form of providing meeting and conference facilities as well as administrative and academic services. Jennifer Bonham and Peter Lumb Editors AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE 2010 iv PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND AUSTRALIAN CYCLING CONFERENCE Representations of cycling in metropolitan newspapers – Changes over time and differences between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia Representations of cycling in metropolitan newspapers – Changes over time and differences between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia Chris Rissel1*, Catriona Bonfiglioli2, Adrian Emilsen3, Ben J Smith4 * Corresponding author 1 Health Promotion Service, Sydney South West Area Health Service, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia 2 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia 3 Office of Facilities Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia 4 Department of Health Social Science, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract Background: Cycling is important for health, transport, environmental and economic reasons. Newspaper reporting of cycling reflects and can influence public and policymaker attitudes towards resource allocation for cycling and cycling infrastructure, yet such coverage has not been systematically examined. Methods: The Factiva electronic news archive was searched for articles referring to cycling published in four major metropolitan newspapers – two in Sydney and two in Melbourne, Australia, in the years from 1998 until 2008. After excluding articles not about cycling, there were 61 articles published in 1998, 45 in 1999, 51 in 2003, 82 in 2007 and 87 in 2008.