Dr Jake Olivier's findings re: cycling participation rates published by the ABC

The School's Dr Jake Olivier and some colleagues had a piece published on ABC Environment this morning. After analysing the data of a recent report which suggested cycling participation rates have declined in Australia, they have challenged its findings and discovered that cycling participation has in fact increased.

"After adjusting for the overall ageing of the population between the 1985/86 survey and the 2011 survey, the per capita cycling trip rate has actually increased by eight per cent. In addition, the absolute number of cycling trips per day has, as Gillham and Rissel correctly pointed out, increased by at least 26 per cent. Based on the data in these two surveys, cycling participation is up, not down", say the researchers.

See the article for a full explanation of the researchers' analysis: Cycling rates are up, despite creaky knees.