A perennial problem for advocates of new rail trail developments and management committees looking for data to use in promotional plans is lack of hard economic benefits data. Visitor counters can provide some numbers for existing trails but measuring dollar values has been a recurring frustration.
At Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 20 October a group of enthusiastic politicians, led by the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, and representatives of the bicycle industry unveiled a report which provides useful facts and figures that can be used to underline the significance of bicycling visitors using rail trails.
Titled the “Australian Cycling Economy 2021 Report“, initiated by We Ride Australia, an arm of the bicycle industry, and delivered by Ernst & Young, it is a study estimating the economic contribution of the cycling economy to Australia in 2020. The study noted that cycling’s input into the Australian economy was $6.3B in 2020 whilst supporting 34,295 FTE jobs. 1.7M bicycles were purchased in 2020 with an estimated 5.8M Australians having spent money on cycling products last year.
This nineteen page report shines a new light on the significance of bicycle use in Australia as a substantial component of the national economy, and its significance for sport, recreation, transport and a contributor to the tourism sector. This Australian Cycling Economy Report lays out the hard facts and it makes very interesting reading.
Bicycle use on rail trails has always been the major component of all visitor traffic and based on this research it will continue to be so and grow into the future.
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Register for news updatesSunday, 4 June, saw the Mansfield Marathon along the Mansfield end of the Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT) return for t...
Paul Baker, an enthusiastic rider who is aiming to ride every rail trail in Victoria in 2023, recently rode his 29th Ra...
The section of the Port Fairy – Warrnambool Rail Trail between Port Fairy and Illowa will soon benefit from a new surf...
The community have the opportunity to provide direct feedback to assist the Mt Alexander Shire Council in partnership wi...
The City of Greater Bendigo will shortly commence a project to construct and install public toilets, bike hoops, new par...
A large crowd turned out today (Friday 26 May) on a beautiful morning at Trawool Estate for the official launch of the A...
On Wednesday 10 May 2023 a public-information session was held for community members to view and discuss the plans for r...
The duplication of Main South Road from Seaford to Sellicks Beach has commenced and will include a 16km off-road shared ...
The Bunny Rail Trail is a new trail under development between Ballarat and Buninyong in Western Victoria. Walkers, runne...
The good news just keeps rolling in for the Tweed Section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail with the Tweed Council NRRT ...
On 17 May 2023, Cessnock City Council unanimously approved the Review of Environmental Factors (REF) and associated repo...
The third South Burnett Express Rail Trail Relay, run from Kingaroy to Wondai (on the Kilkivan – Kingaroy Rail Tra...
The catchily-named Eastern Dandenong Ranges Trail will have its 800m extension from Edenmont Rd to Belgrave-Gembrook Rd ...
The Coast to Vines Rail Trail in South Australia now has a new side trail called the Flat to Vale Trail and while it is ...
The Australian and South Australian governments have jointly (50:50) funded $400m for the removal of level crossings whe...
The Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT) Art Installation Project is on track to be completed by the end of April as planne...
2 comments on “Launch of the Australian Cycling Economy Report from Parliament House”
Been trying for years to get a trail between Swan Hill and Lake Boga, have been told by a couple of ex councilors that the money is there is the money there but at all council votes to build it, they have voted it down. Built a multi million dollar drag strip that can't be used because it is to dangerous. So what is happening to the money that is already there for the bike trail??
Great news!