There is a scarcely audible revolution unfolding in the streets of Sydney, fuelled by the innovation of the City of Sydney and the collective will of the general populace. Since
An Inconvenient Truth entered out living rooms and fundamentally altered the way in which we view the environment and redefined the political landscape, the question of how we can live sustainably has been a pressing issue on the local and global stage.
Of course, the establishment of a 200 kilometre cycleway network through the heart of Sydney is not motivated by a concern for climate change alone. While reducing the carbon footprint of the city of a whole is a noble cause, the residual benefits of decreasing the presence of cars on the road in favour of bicycles include a reduction in road congestion and an improvement in health.
According to
Sydney Cycleways, people who ride bikes regularly are expected to be as fit as a person 10 years younger. Similarly, by combining transport and low impact cardio exercise, cycling increases the likelihood of completing the 30 minutes of exercise per day mandated by health professionals.
With $3.5 billion per year spent on traffic congestion, with a forecasted 23 per cent growth in traffic in the next fifteen years. The
Inner Sydney Regional Bike Network is expected to a 66 per cent increase in people riding bikes by 2016.
In preparation for this initiative, the City of Sydney will be providing a series of free courses to assist people in safe cycling. The
Cycling Confidence Course runs for approximately 4.5 hours and includes basic cycling skills and road safety. Having mastered the basic skills, it is also possible learn
bicycle maintenance in a course running for approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes.
The courses will be run in
Sydney Park and bookings can be made online.
