Cycle lanes across inner-Sydney have been one of Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s lasting legacies — infrastructure she has passionately championed for several years. But it seems not everyone shares the same enthusiasm, not even cyclists.
Three months after the unveiling of the $18.5 million Oxford Street cycleway between Hyde Park and Taylor Square in conjunction with the state government, there are still plenty of teething issues.
In damning video from a typical morning rush hour, as many cyclists can be seen still using the road as those who have opted for the new bike track. The brief clip shows half a dozen cyclists hurtling down the bus lane en route to the CBD despite a state-of-the-art bike lane just metres away on the other side of the street.
And while the video is a mere snippet of the day, observations from Yahoo News show it is a repeat occurrence throughout the week.
One newsagent along the new stretch of the Oxford Street cycleway said while she thought the bike lanes were overall a “good thing”, cyclists not using them defeated the purpose.
“The whole point of it was to get people off the road and using the designated lanes so that’s not right,” she told Yahoo. “They should use it.”
Usage figures of cycleway disputed
The bike lane, which will eventually stretch to an existing cycleway at Centennial Park, has had plenty of critics, notably in Paddington with opponents arguing it will hurt business, create traffic problems and pose a safety risk.
But the City of Sydney council stands by the project, telling Yahoo the new cycleway is “well used”, with about 3,000 daily weekday trips currently.
That’s an even higher figure than the 2,701 daily cyclists the council said passed through the Taylor Square junction during peak hour last year. That figure prompted the Daily Telegraph to do its own assessment, and it found on average, just 391 cyclists used the intersection during those times.
Plenty of cyclists turned up for the cycleway’s launch, but it seems not everyone is keen to use it. Source: Bicycle NSW
Council says cyclists need time
Addressing the video, a City of Sydney spokesperson said the council “understands that habits take time to change” and said it will continue educating riders on the benefits of using the cycleway.
“Studies show 70 per cent of people in Sydney would like to ride a bicycle more often, but don’t feel safe to mix with vehicular traffic. We build bike lanes to support cycling as a viable transport option for those who would like to ride but don’t feel safe to do so,” the spokesperson said.
They also said once the final section of the project was complete, it hoped a more seamless experience for riders will see usage increase.
The City of Sydney reminds riders they have no obligation to use cycle lanes, and that’s a message CEO of Bicycle NSW Peter McLean is also keen to get across.
“In many instances it’s fair to say that bicycle riders are allowed to still access the road,” he previously told Yahoo.
“Sometimes there’s debris in the lanes and they’re not always well cleaned. Often, there’s access issues as well as obstructions and problems with the surface,” he said.
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