Children’s Cycling Trends, Accessibility to and Utilisation of Urban Facilities in Selected Australian Urban Environments

Abstract

Children's travel is an integral component of overall transport demand in Australian cities. The mode choices of children and their parents impact not only traffic flows around schools, but also children's mental, physical and social health. Despite cycling being a healthy, safe, affordable and space/energy efficient mode of transport, current bicycle mode shares for the journey-to-school are low in Australia. Previous research has identified that amongst other socio-economic and built form factors, distance is an important determinant of the use of cycling for transport. This paper uses a sample of the broader CATCH/iMATCH survey data to explore the stated and revealed preferences for the use of bicycles. During 2011-2012, approximately 350 children in nine selected primary schools across Rockhampton, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, completed attitudinal surveys and wore global positioning systems (GPS) units and completed travel diaries for four days. A segment of these data are used to explore the role of travel distance in terms of accessibility to selected destinations and its association with children's travel preferences, and especially cycling. The results include cycling mode shares, travel distances by bicycle, accessibility mapping for selected school neighbourhood populations by bicycle using GIS, and reported attitudes towards cycling. The findings show a disconnect between children's stated preferences for cycling and revealed behaviour, despite considerable potential for bicycle travel in most school neighbourhoods. Tentative explanations are provided as to why these differences exist, which have implications for Australian policy and programs.