Bike and Scooter Share is Booming in Darwin

Darwin Neuron Bike and Scooter Share

Darwin is one of Australia’s most remote cities. Geographically it’s closer to Singapore than Sydney. It’s the capital city for the Northern Territory, which is Australia’s most sparsely populated state or territory with

When Will Our Governments Start Joining the Dots?

Spin Scooter

In this article I’ll look at two recent decisions by two different governments, that are equally disturbing for a slightly differing set of reasons.

Banning Scooter Trials: Andrew Constance has deep roots in the Bega region on NSW’s far south coast. In the 1860’s his great-great-grandfather, James Constance, drove a team of bullocks through the Bega Valley and settled there as a bush pioneer until his death in 1912. Andrew Constance told this story in greater detail during his maiden speech to the NSW parliament on 21st May 2003.

In that same maiden speech he said, “The broader policy questions about the environment mean surely it is time to dare our Government and citizens to consider every option…”

A Wheelie Good Rack!

Wheelie Bike Rack

Bicycle parking is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to encouraging more people to ride. But before anyone starts drilling holes in public space to install ‘permanent’ bike parking hoops, enclosures or other facilities, they have to jump through expensive hoops themselves in terms of approvals, ensuring they’re not potentially disrupting any underground utilities and so on.

These costs, combined with uncertainty amongst the relevant authorities that the parking would be regularly used, often leads to inaction. No parking leads to less riding and so the vicious cycle repeats.

Australian Ingenuity Creates World Leading Ebike Racks

GripSport Ebike Rack

Due to their extra size and weight, Ebikes can present design challenges when it comes to transporting them on the back of a vehicle. But Australian manufacturer GripSport has come up with unique solutions to these challenges.

From modest beginnings in founder Jon Weaving’s backyard workshop back in 1998, GripSport is now quite probably the largest bicycle related manufacturing business in Australia. It now occupies three adjacent factory units in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, where it’s highly skilled and experienced team employ the latest design technology and even robot fabrication of some components.

This expertise in design and manufacture shows though in their latest GSE racks that carry two ebikes weighing up to 30 kg each.

E-Scooter Racing World Circuit Gathers Momentum

eSC eSkootr

Not many people would wish to hit speeds in excess of 100kph on a transport device with no roll cage, completely open to the elements and riding on 16 centimetre wheels travelling just a few centimetres off the ground. This is, however, what anyone taking a trip on an eSkootr S1X racing e-scooter can look forward to.

The eSkootr S1X has been created for the planned eSkootr Championship (eSC) which will start towards the end of the year. The races will be conducted on specially built circuits – concrete seams and cracks in pavement would not do at these speeds on a ride with such tiny wheels – in city parks, streets or within stadiums.

Hobart Reduces CBD Speed Limits

Hobart Tasmania

Effective from Monday 1st February 2021, Hobart has become the latest Australian city to lower its speed limits on central city streets.

As you can see from the map accompanying this article for all but two roads the speed limit has been reduced from 50 kph to 40kph. The small roads shown in grey were already 40 kph.

Critical Missing Link Approved for New Zealand’s Capital

Te Ara Tupua cycling project

New Zealand’s national capital of Wellington has a greater urban area population of 429,700 in 2020, but due to its extremely hilly terrain and limited land, being surrounded by ocean on three sides, only half of these people, 215,100 to be exact, live in the city of Wellington itself.
The other half live in nearby urban areas including Lower Hutt and Porirua.

Also due to this extremely rugged terrain, a single four lane motorway is the only main road that links Wellington to the rest of New Zealand.

Currently there is no separated cycle route along this main road, that has been built on a narrow strip of in some places reclaimed land, wedged between the mountains and the sea. The only space for cyclists is the shoulder of what is an extremely busy high speed road.

NSW Abandons E-scooter Trial – Minister ‘Not in the Mood’

Andrew Constance

The NSW government has abandoned plans for an electric scooter trial in Sydney despite a national push to legalise the mobility devices.

Electric scooters are illegal on roads and footpaths in NSW, but sales continue to grow.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance says he was “not in the mood” to have e-scooters on Sydney streets, even though his department ran a lengthy process recommending conditions for holding a trial.

Paris is Re-Proving ‘Build it and They Will Come!’

Rue de Rivoli Paris

Cycling advocates around the world know that if they can overcome entrenched resistance and actually get protected facilities installed, the riders will come.

Now a recent study by the Paris city government has found that new cyclists account for almost six in ten users of pop-up cycle lanes in Paris, installed first in response to a public transport strike last winter with the network subsequently enlarged due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The study also revealed that prior to the pop-up bike lanes being put in place, women made up 36 per cent of cyclists in Paris, which has now risen to 41 per cent.

Ebikes Focus of The Conversation Hour

The Conversation

The Conversation Hour is a Victorian based interview and talkback program on ABC Radio. Hosts Richelle Hunt and Warwick Long recently devoted an entire episode to the growing popularity of ebikes.

Richelle opened the program by declaring that she and her family, who were definitely not ‘hard core’ cyclists, were considering buying an ebike instead of a second car.

The program included calls from various members of the public plus experts from the Australian Electric Vehicle Association and Victoria Walks and Peter Bourke from Bicycle Industries Australia and We Ride Australia.