Australian cities are still low on the food chain when it comes to cycling, but that’s about to change. One of Australia’s top bicycle advocates, Christian Haag, outlines 3 things he wants to learn from the world’s biggest cycling conference.

Attending international conferences is an expensive business. If you choose wisely, your organization’s investment will be returned many times over. A poor choice can be an expensive mistake.

In less than two weeks, Bicycle SA, will be in Vienna at Velo-city and already there is a sense that the locals will be putting on a great show. So, as the head of South Australia’s peak bicycle advocacy body, what will I be looking to extract from a week in one of the most beautiful cities in the world?

1.     Jaw-dropping inspiration

Firstly, I want Velo-city to provide me with jaw dropping inspiration. That’s right. I really want to be inspired, motivated and see what’s outside the box.

How did Seville get ten times as many people cycling in a matter of years? What allowed New York’s top transport planner to implement a bike share scheme in a city where car is king? How does Copenhagen see so many ‘heels on wheels’?

I want to come back to Australia full of inspiration, to find new and better ways of doing old business. 

2.     How do I go from starter city to cycling mecca?

I want the latest knowledge to construct better arguments for cycling investment. Australia still has some way to go to make it a cycling nation. The capital city of South Australia, Adelaide, has been working hard in recent years and while we enjoy high recreational participation rates, we still see only about  a 2-3% bike modal share.   

At the same time, since 2008, Australia has seen a year on year decline of the number of total vehicle kilometres travelled which is encouraging use. For many decades organizations like Bicycle SA have advocated better outcomes for cyclists. Many decisions makers across government and business now understand that bikes are better and the challenge is to find integrated strategic ways forward to get more people cycling.

For us know it’s a question of how we get to that magic 10% mode share in the next few years.

I’m hoping that going to Vienna will give me some of those answers. What policies and partnerships work? What sort of advocacy strategies get results?

3.     Connect with other professionals in the bicycle world

South Australia has some amazing stories to share. As the largest non-government provider of tourism product in the state, Bicycle SA just completed the ‘Outback Odyssey’ along the Mawson trail which stretches 900 kilometres through the Australian outback. 

In Adelaide, we’ve got a committed pro-bicycle mayor and our State Government has been putting in place ambitious urban strategies that include higher density developments that encourage more walking, cycling and transit use.  

I want to know how other advocacy groups managed to get all the key stakeholders, local, community or business, speaking from the same page.

It would be great to have a yarn with anybody who wants to share the challenges and successes of this business that we all share.  That’s what I want Velo-city to be all about.

For those interested in learning more about cycle tourism in South Australia, l look forward to seeing you at my session.

About the Author

While not out on his mountain bike, Christian Haag is the CEO of Bicycle SA, South Australia’s peak bike advocacy group with more than 6,000 members. The City of Adelaide will be hosting Velo-city Global in 2014.