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Numerous studies have explored associations between bicycle network characteristics and bicycle ridership. However, the majority of these studies have been conducted in inner metropolitan regions and as such, there is limited knowledge on how various characteristics of bicycle networks relate to bicycle trips within and across entire metropolitan regions, and how the size and composition of study regions impact on the association between bicycle network characteristics and bicycle ridership. We conducted a retrospective analysis of household travel survey data and bicycle infrastructure in the Greater Melbourne region, Australia. Seven network metrics were calculated (length of the bicycle network, betweenness centrality, degree centrality, network density, network coverage, intersection density and average weighted slope) and Bayesian spatial models were used to explore associations between these network characteristics and bicycle ridership. We demonstrated that bicycle ridership was associated with several network characteristics, and that these characteristics varied according to the outcome (count of the number of trips made by bike or the proportion of trips made by bike) and the size and characteristics of the study region. These findings challenge the utility of approaches based on spatially modeling network characteristics and bicycle ridership when informing the monitoring and evaluation of bicycle networks. Further efforts are required to be able to quantify network characteristics that reflect the myriad of factors that influence comfort and safety for people of all ages and abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction : In Australia, between 2017–2021, 16% of quad bike fatalities involved children. Trauma statistics highlight that public awareness of the risks associated with children driving quads is required. Consistent with the Step approach to Message Design and Testing (SatMDT) and, in particular, Steps 1 and 2, this study sought to identify critical beliefs influencing parental intentions to allow their children to drive a quad bike and develop message content. The critical beliefs analysis was based on eliciting the Theory of Planned Behavior's (TPB) behavioral, normative, and control beliefs. Methods: An online survey was distributed via parenting blogs, social media posts, and snowballing of the researchers' network list. Parents who participated (N = 71; 53F, 18 M), were aged between 25–57 years (M = 40.96, SD = 6.98), had at least one child aged between 3 to 16 years, and currently resided in Australia. Results: The critical beliefs analysis identified four critical beliefs that significantly predicted parental intentions to allow their child to drive a quad bike. These beliefs included a behavioral belief (the perceived advantage that allowing their child to drive a quad bike would enable tasks to be completed), two normative beliefs (the perception that one's parents and partner would likely approve of allowing their child to drive a quad bike), and one control belief (a perceived barrier to allowing one's child to drive a quad that was associated with being aware of an increasing cultural concern around the safety of quad bikes). Conclusions: Findings contribute to insights regarding parental beliefs underpinning their intention to allow their child to drive a quad bike, an area previously lacking in research evidence. Practical applications: With child-use posing a high-risk activity for children, this study provides an important contribution that may help to inform future safety messaging targeting children's use of quad bikes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, cities have increasingly promoted bicycling as a mode of transport as part of their strategy to develop a more sustainable transportation system. Australia is one of the countries that seeks to promote bicycling in a significant manner. There are two primary barriers faced in this effort. The first is the organizational complexity of planning and of implementing cycling-related projects, which can span across different agencies in government at various levels, from federal to local. Second is the lack of a clear framework for effectively planning a bicycling network using multiple data and tools available to these agencies within a limited budget. This study investigates the use of a geo-design-based, collaborative, and data-driven framework for planning bicycling networks, which brings various stakeholders, such as transport planners, urban designers, and academics, into the planning practice, thus overcoming the mentioned barriers. Geo-design is an environmental design framework for complex problems involving the collaboration of different teams and stakeholders, supported by digital computing and communication technologies. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study in the literature applying the geo-design approach for bicycling planning. Therefore, this study aims to develop and test a geo-design framework for planning bicycling networks to examine possible design scenarios and facilitate decision-making processes. In this regard, this study developed a geo-design framework for planning for bicycling using various bicycling-related datasets and digital tools, such as the Agent-Based Model. Then, it applied the framework to design a real-world bicycle network through a geo-design workshop while examining the usefulness and effectiveness of the developed procedures and tools. Policymakers attended the geo-design workshop from the local government authority of the case study area, Penrith, and post-graduate level urban planning students from UNSW. Due to COVID-19-related restrictions, the workshop was held in a hybrid format, with half of the participants joining online. The results of this study revealed that by facilitating collaboration and applying data-driven approaches, the proposed geo-design bicycling framework could improve the process of planning for bicycling infrastructure. This study also enabled the research team to understand the strengths and limitations of the developed framework and associated tools, which will help to optimize them for other planning practices in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The great possibility of alternative education programs rests in the affront to established conventions that these present for what counts as learning, engagement and the experience of schooling. This paper takes as its point of focus one specific, in-school alternative learning program, and considers the possibilities for student re-engagement that emerged via the repair and restoration of old bicycles. The discussion focusses particularly on the "informality" that presented within the day-to-day dynamics of the program and how the space provided in the program's workshop sessions offered the opportunity for students to re-configure their relationships with each other, their teachers and the larger practice of schooling. A discussion of both the potential and risk of a "pedagogy of informality" is posited in light of current discussions in the literature of alternative education in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To describe current practices of physiotherapists and occupational therapists when training two-wheel bike skills in children with cerebral palsy (CP) within an International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. Methods: Ninety-five physiotherapists and occupational therapists working with children with CP in Australia completed a customized online survey. Survey questions related to: eligibility, initial assessment, intervention characteristics, and evaluation of effectiveness. Open-ended responses were analyzed using deductive content analysis. Close-ended questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The ICF was used as a framework for coding and reporting. Results: Body structure and function factors were most frequently considered in eligibility (56% of observations) and assessment (47%). Activity and participation-related factors were considered more in intervention (42%) and evaluation (75%). While functional training approaches were predominant, intervention characteristics varied markedly. Excepting goal-related tools, few measures were identified for assessment or evaluation of effectiveness. Environmental and personal factors were seldom considered across practice areas. Conclusions: Current two-wheel bike skills training for children with CP in Australia appears highly variable. Development and testing of bike skills-specific outcome measures and interventions and guidance for therapists on consideration of environmental and personal factors are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cycling contributes to the formation of positive self-realisation concepts. • Self-realisation occurs on physical, psychological, social and growth dimensions. • Cycling has the potential of a direct and indirect contribution to positive mood. • Analysing the shift from car to bicycle use requires a multidisciplinary approach. This study explores the relations between cycling habits, eudaimonic well-being and positive mood. Specifically, this study investigates whether cycling contributes to the formation of positive physical, social, and self-actualisation concepts, which in turn could affect the mood and well-being of travellers. A survey was administered to 1131 inhabitants of the Brisbane area in Australia to elicit their socioeconomic traits and travel habits, as well as to measure self-concepts related to self-actualisation and the relation between cycling and mood. Structural equation modelling explored the system of relations between socioeconomic characteristics, observed travel habits, and latent self-concepts. The results of this study highlight that there exists a positive relation between bicycle use, self-actualisation on physical, psychological, social and self-efficacy dimensions and positive mood. Also, the findings of this study suggest that policy implications follow: (i) active travel to school and work should be promoted as a mean to increase the eudaimonic capacity through cycling, as this is one of the most important capacities for both children and adults; (ii) improvements in cycling infrastructure would not only foster higher cycling rates, but also reduce stress for commuter cyclists; (iii) eudaimonic benefits should be included in multi-criteria and cost-benefit analyses to better grasp cycling benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of recent studies have shown that ships are a common subject of contact period rock art in Australia and some other countries. More generally, one of the most common themes in most bodies of contact rock art is that of transport. Besides introduced watercraft, trains, planes and automobiles were painted, engraved and drawn at many rock art sites. Occasionally, bicycles, buggies, motorcycles and rickshaws were also depicted. Horses are common in many parts of the world, especially at sites inland and far from the coast, but occasionally elephants with mahoots, camels and other beasts of transport were emblazoned on rock shelter walls and ceilings. This paper focuses on examples of transport rock art from Australia, Malaysia and South Africa in particular but is relevant to contact rock art world-wide. One of the conclusions is that Indigenous peoples were just as interested in what brought new peoples to their lands as they were in the new arrivals themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collisions at rail level crossings (RLXs) are typically high-severity and high-cost, often involving serious injuries, fatalities and major disruptions to the transport network. Most research examining behaviour at RLXs has focused exclusively on drivers and consequently there is little knowledge on how other road users make decisions at RLXs. We collected drivers’, motorcyclists’, bicyclists’ and pedestrians’ self-reported daily experiences at RLXs for two weeks, focusing on behaviour, decision-making and information use in the presence of a train and/or activated RLX signals. Both information use and behaviour differed between road users. Visual information (e.g. flashing lights) was more influential for motorists, whereas pedestrians and cyclists relied more on auditory information (e.g. bells). Pedestrians were also more likely to violate active RLX warnings and/or cross before an approaching train. These results emphasise the importance of adopting holistic RLX design approaches that support cognition and behaviour across for all road users. Practitioner Summary:This study explores how information use and decision-making at rail level crossings (RLXs) differ between road user groups, using a two-week self-report study. Most users make safe decisions, but pedestrians are most likely to violate RLX warnings. Information use (visual vs. auditory) also differs substantially between road user groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobilities across contested terrains are key to the formation of settler societies. This paper explores how safety bicycles were drawn into the Australian settler project at the turn of the twentieth century, just as the six independent colonies were federating into the Commonwealth of Australia. As recently imported objects, bicycles afforded settler men unprecedented mobility across remote landscapes that had not been smoothed by the infrastructures of the ‘old world’. In those years of national formation, bicycles were received as objects that could fill ‘empty’ land with people, things, activities and stories, at the same time as they generated masculine, settler subjectivities. A practice approach to settler mobilities helps to tease out the entanglements between bicycle ‘overlanding’ and two fundamental imperatives of settlerism: transforming indigenous places into settler places and creating ‘nativised’ settler subjectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Collisions between different types of road users at intersections form a substantial component of the road toll. This paper presents an analysis of driver, cyclist, motorcyclist and pedestrian behaviour at intersections that involved the application of an integrated suite of ergonomics methods, the Event Analysis of Systemic Teamwork (EAST) framework, to on-road study data. EAST was used to analyse behaviour at three intersections using data derived from an on-road study of driver, cyclist, motorcyclist and pedestrian behaviour. The analysis shows the differences in behaviour and cognition across the different road user groups and pinpoints instances where this may be creating conflicts between different road users. The role of intersection design in creating these differences in behaviour and resulting conflicts is discussed. It is concluded that currently intersections are not designed in a way that supports behaviour across the four forms of road user studied. Interventions designed to improve intersection safety are discussed. Practitioner Summary:Intersection safety currently represents a key road safety issue worldwide. This paper presents a novel application of a framework of ergonomics methods for studying differences in road user behaviour at intersections. The findings support development of interventions that consider all road users as opposed to one group in isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collisions between different road users make a substantial contribution to road trauma. Although evidence suggests that different road users interpret the same road situations differently, it is not clear how road users' situation awareness differs, nor is it clear which differences might lead to conflicts. This article presents the findings from an on-road study conducted to examine driver, motorcyclist and cyclist situation awareness in different road environments. The findings suggest that, in addition to minor differences in the structure of different road users' situation awareness (i.e. amount of information and how it is integrated), the actual content of situation awareness in terms of road user schemata, the resulting interaction with the world and the information underpinning situation awareness is markedly different. Further examination indicates that the differences are likely to be compatible along arterial roads, shopping strips and at roundabouts, but that they may create conflicts between different road users at intersections. Interventions designed to support compatible situation awareness and behaviour between different road users are discussed. Practitioner Summary:Incompatible situation awareness plays a key role in collisions between different road users (e.g. drivers and motorcyclists). This on-road study examined situation awareness in drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists, identifying the key differences and potential conflicts that arise. The findings are used to propose interventions designed to enhance the compatibility of situation awareness between road users. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, an application of cognitive work analysis (CWA), using the strategies analysis diagram (SAD) method, to model performance variability in road transport, is presented. Specifically, the method was used to describe performance variability across four road user groups (drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians) when turning right at an urban signalised intersection. The analysis demonstrated that the method was able to identify a comprehensive range of strategies that road users can potentially use while turning right at an intersection, thereby describing a range of performance variability within intersection systems. Furthermore, the method identified constraints, disturbances, changes in circumstances and other influences on road user performance variability. It is concluded that the CWA/SAD approach was able to describe both the different ways in which activities can be executed and disturbances, situations and constraints that create performance variability. The implications of these findings for road design and intersection safety are discussed along with the benefits and drawbacks of the methodology used. Practitioner Summary: Recently, the strategies analysis diagram was proposed as a method to support the cognitive work analysis framework in modelling performance variability. This article evaluated this method within a complex sociotechnical system, namely road transport. The application provided insight into performance variability across road user groups when turning right at intersections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There has been an ongoing debate in Australia and internationally regarding the effectiveness of bicycle helmets in preventing head injury. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of bicycle helmets in preventing head injury amongst cyclists in crashes involving motor vehicles, and to assess the impact of ‘risky cycling behaviour’ among helmeted and unhelmeted cyclists. This analysis involved a retrospective, case–control study using linked police-reported road crash, hospital admission and mortality data in New South Wales (NSW), Australia during 2001–2009. The study population was cyclist casualties who were involved in a collision with a motor vehicle. Cases were those that sustained a head injury and were admitted to hospital. Controls were those admitted to hospital who did not sustain a head injury, or those not admitted to hospital. Standard multiple variable logistic regression modelling was conducted, with multinomial outcomes of injury severity. There were 6745 cyclist collisions with motor vehicles where helmet use was known. Helmet use was associated with reduced risk of head injury in bicycle collisions with motor vehicles of up to 74%, and the more severe the injury considered, the greater the reduction. This was also found to be true for particular head injuries such as skull fractures, intracranial injury and open head wounds. Around one half of children and adolescents less than 19 years were not wearing a helmet, an issue that needs to be addressed in light of the demonstrated effectiveness of helmets. Non-helmeted cyclists were more likely to display risky riding behaviour, however, were less likely to cycle in risky areas; the net result of which was that they were more likely to be involved in more severe crashes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the 1991 enactment of mandatory helmet legislation (MHL) for cyclists in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, there has been extensive debate as to its effect on head injury rates at a population level. Many previous studies have focused on the impact of MHL around the time of enactment, while little has been done to examine the ongoing effects. We aimed to extend prior work by investigating long-term trends in cyclist head and arm injuries over the period 1991–2010. The counts of cyclists hospitalised with head or arm injuries were jointly modelled with log-linear regression. The simultaneous modelling of related injury mechanisms avoids the need for actual exposure data and accounts for the effects of changes in the cycling environment, cycling behaviour and general safety improvements. Models were run separately with population counts, bicycle imports, the average weekday counts of cyclists in Sydney CBD and cycling estimates from survey data as proxy exposures. Overall, arm injuries were higher than head injuries throughout the study period, consistent with previous post-MHL observations. The trends in the two injury groups also significantly diverged, such that the gap between rates increased with time. The results suggest that the initial observed benefit of MHL has been maintained over the ensuing decades. There is a notable additional safety benefit after 2006 that is associated with an increase in cycling infrastructure spending. This implies that the effect of MHL is ongoing and progress in cycling safety in NSW has and will continue to benefit from focusing on broader issues such as increasing cycling infrastructure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

What is the role of cycling in dispersed cities under Peak Oil? This research sought to appraise the bicycle's mitigating potential in an oil crisis, and to identify the specific ways planners may respond to maximise these effects. An overview of cycling in dispersed cities, focused on US and Australian cities, highlights low bicycle mode shares and low participation rates for women, children and seniors at present. Yet cycling can flourish in suburban settings, with low-density, outer-suburban communities in many European cities having very high bicycle mode shares, and strong participation across all demographic groups. Under a variety of Peak Oil scenarios, the bicycle is shown to play specific roles in supplying local mobility and access to and from mass public transport for longer distance trips. In conjunction with minor urban restructuring and public transport networking, many suburban areas could still function without reliance on large quantities of oil for access and mobility. Planning priorities include cycle network planning, ensuring current infrastructures can meet demand, links to public transport and end-of-trip facilities, and socio-cultural research into suburban bicycle sub-markets to better inform targeted behaviour change interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]