Page 1617 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 7 May 2013
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cost our nation and its health budget over $1.5 billion annually. Therefore, measures such as providing for pedalec-style bicycles are important.
Pedalec-style bicycles provide an opportunity for Canberrans who have traditionally been reluctant or unable to travel by bike and enjoy the many benefits cycling provides to ride a bike. Experience from overseas has shown that pedalecs are particularly valued by three segments of the community who are currently under-represented in cycling statistics. Those are older adults, women and people with physical limitations.
Allowing the use of pedalecs in the ACT will help expand the overall proportion of the cycling public. Pedalec-style bikes are ideal for people in these groups who may not have the physical ability to ride to all the places they would like to go. For this reason, they are highly valued in Europe and Asia.
It is worth highlighting, of course, that in a dispersed city like the ACT the use of a pedalec provides significant potential advantages. For journeys to commute to work that might be 10 or more kilometres each way, a pedalec will cut in half the period of time taken to undertake that. If you think about, perhaps, where I live, Madam Deputy Speaker, in Weston Creek, a journey to the city is quite a long way on a bicycle, particularly if you do not have a good level of fitness. But with a pedalec you are potentially able to undertake that journey in about half an hour.
That is a very attractive option for people. With increasing costs for parking, increased fuel costs and, of course, increased congestion, especially on our roads, to have an attractive alternative where you can do the journey in about half an hour and enjoy the view by the side of the lake on your way to and from work is a real difference from sitting in your car and getting frustrated because of accidents, especially like we saw this morning during the morning peak. These are the types of opportunities that pedalecs provide for us.
We have also seen examples in other countries where people have achieved significant benefit from being able to use a pedalec. Riders in other countries have been widely reported as saying that riding a pedalec can be less painful than walking for people with arthritis in their hips, knees or ankles because the rider’s body weight is carried by the bike saddle and not the legs, as occurs when walking. Those riders say that this makes the use of pedalec-style bicycles an excellent form of low weight bearing, supported exercise.
In addition, of course, to the social, health and environmental benefits that pedalecs can provide this change is also beneficial for the bicycle industry in the ACT. The Australian bicycle industry estimates that it generates around $2.7 billion a year in revenue and economic activity, and employs approximately 10,000 people. These changes have been welcomed by the industry.
I was pleased when I introduced this bill to visit the Bike Shed on Lonsdale Street Braddon. I spoke with the proprietor of the business. He was very supportive of this measure. He has obviously seen a very strong uptake of interest from people wanting to buy bicycles. His message was that the upgrade in the power allowed for
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