Will Shepparton's Super Tuesday numbers this year trump 2019?
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Australia’s biggest bike count is next Tuesday (March 3), and Shepparton still needs volunteers to help measure the nation’s increase in bike riding.
Bicycle Network chief executive Craig Richards said Super Tuesday data was important to help understand the places people liked to ride, so councils could build better bike lanes and paths to get more people active.
“Super Tuesday shows us which bike paths and lanes are most used and which ones don’t attract many people on bikes,” Mr Richards said.
“When we see that a particular spot has a lot of riders on different types of bikes, an even gender split and people of all ages, we know that’s the kind of lane or path we need more of.”
Easy to spot in bright blue shirts, volunteer counters will be stationed on roads, bike lanes and shared paths to count and track the movements of people riding bikes during the morning commute.
Information about riders is then passed on to 40 participating councils who use the data to identify which bike routes need improvement and to track the success of previous work and upgrades.
There will be more than 800 volunteer counters stationed in cities and towns with clipboards at the ready.
Bicycle Network will give each volunteer $60 to donate to a charity or community group of their choice.
In 2019 Super Tuesday donated more than $48 000.
Mr Richards said volunteers would be out bright and early, many with a thermos and radio to keep them company.
“If you see them out on the road please give them a ring of your bell and say thanks for helping make Australia a better place to ride,” Mr Richards said.
The busiest site in 2019 was in Melbourne on the Capital City Trail at Footscray Rd, where 1889 bike riders were recorded.
On average, 25 per cent of people riding in 2019 were female.
Super Tuesday is held in southern states during March.
It is held in northern states during September when the weather is better for bike riding.
More information about Super Tuesday including a map with participating councils and count site locations, registrations and more is available at supertuesday.com.au
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