Research for the paper found that, along with safety concerns, a lack of infrastructure to support bicycle use – lockers, bicycle parking and showers – discourages many from riding a bike. Bicycle crashes per cyclist almost halved between 2009 and 2014, but the council believes perceptions of a lack of safety remain the biggest barrier to bicycle travel. Illustration: Matt Golding With Melbourne City Council’s population expected to boom by more than 50 per cent over the next 20 years, the council wants to encourage pedal power to manage road congestion. New lord mayor Sally Capp said increasing cycling participation was vital.

Cr Capp, who has dumped the chauffeur service used by former lord mayor Robert Doyle during his nine years in office, says she will cycle to work at Town Hall “as much as possible”. She wants to see more women cycling in Melbourne. “Our research shows that the number of men riding to work in the city is double that of women making the same trip,” she said. “Aside from the personal health benefits when people choose to ride, they reduce vehicle emissions, noise and congestion and help free up public transport capacity.” The council also argues bike riders provide an economic boost, pointing to the conversion of two Lygon Street car parking spaces several years ago that provided space for 24 bikes. The council says businesses gained more from having bike spaces than cars – $4042 a day compared with $994. The council’s research has found that protected lanes – sometimes referred to as Copenhagen lanes, as found on parts of La Trobe and Swanston streets – with a physical barrier from cars would improve rider confidence from 22 to 83 per cent for potential city cyclists.

It also found that people aged between 30 and 39 were the most likely to use bikes to get around. “We need to make cycling safer to allow more women, older and younger people to ride to the city,” Cr Capp said. Transport portfolio chair Nicolas Frances Gilley said greater investment in bicycle lanes and protection at intersections were needed to boost cycling participation – even if traffic lanes for cars were lost in the process. “At the moment over 12,000 people use a bike to commute to work in the morning peak, Cr Frances Gilley said. “That’s enough people to fill 57 E-class trams."