Getting Cycling on the Cover

To help keep cycling on the agenda and interest more people at work in bike parking, I took a copy of the Splash Magazine to the Netherlands with me. Staff are encouraged to submit photos for the cover of the staff magazine, with a photo of themselves with a cover of the previous edition.

I managed to get a few people at work interested in bike parking and aware that I was fortunate enough to attend a Dutch Study Tour looking at active transport in the Netherlands. They commented that the bike parking did not look like it was over here in Australia.

I was one of nine Australians on a Dutch Study Tour organised by the Cycling Promotion Fund in June 2017, similar to the 2014 Netherlands Influential Tour https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/active-transport/AT_CYC_P_2014_NetherlandsCyclingStudyTourReport.pdf

Following that I joined the 150 people at the Scientists for Cycling Colloquium https://www.velo-city2017.com/extracurricular/scientific-colloquium/ and caught up with some of the European Cycling Federation members I met at the last Colloquium in Adelaide in 2014. I also joined 25 Australians at the Global Velo-city 2017 conference in Nijmegen https://www.velo-city2017.com/learn-more/velo-city-series/ for 1500 people from all over the world. We shared information about best practice cycling facilities and programs and how to make changes to improve bike parking and bike paths. Our aim is to enable more people to cycle more often and more easily.

I returned to Australia with renewed enthusiasm, motivation and ideas. I have been gradually implementing them where I can and submitting grant applications for additional funding to support more bike riding in my local community. Building a network of supportive enthused bike advocates has helped with my work as a TravelSmart Officer as we continue to share ideas and problem solve globally.