This project aims to produce a data framework and interactive planning support tool, in collaboration with Australian government agencies, to explore various bicycle infrastructure scenarios and assess their potential impacts.

The literature largely recognizes a positive correlation between cycling modal share and overall infrastructure supply. However, determination of how best to improve the cycling network, and so achieve best returns on investment, requires development of a planning support tool to assist governments to explore bicycle infrastructure scenarios, assess their potential impacts, and make evidence-based decisions.

This tool will enable planners and analysts to consider the potential for cycling enhancement as broadly as possible and will support coordinated and strategic cycling infrastructure planning at local and regional levels. This will be a game changer for the transport sector, as the lack of data-driven approaches focused on active mobility has restricted the development of evidence-based business cases for cycling infrastructure investment, when compared to motorised transport. Benefits from this project to the nation include more informed and optimised investment in cycling, increase in cycling modal share, reduction of emissions and congestion, and improvement of safety and health outcomes from cycling.

This project has the following specific objectives:

1. To identify the full range of underlying factors affecting cycling and current best practices in assessment of cycling potential

2. To assess the pertinence, quality, and quantity of currently available datasets and to conduct community surveys to fill identified data gaps and so develop a standardised data collection framework for cycling research

3. To develop a cycling model and derived indices of cycling accessibility and cycling network connectivity of any proposed bikeway options

4. To build and test an interactive cycling Scenario Planning Tool, considering existing and proposed transport infrastructure, land use and the built environment, socio-demographic variables and topographic factors, to estimate current and future cycling activity levels and the impact of new cycling infrastructure.

Realisation of these objectives will enable planners and analysts, initially in our partner organisations and later more broadly, to consider the potential for cycling enhancement as broadly as possible and will support coordinated and strategic cycling infrastructure planning at local and regional levels.

Read the project report here: