Women scared Riding, We Know That!

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/women-too-scared-to-cycle-survey-20130403-2h73g.html

Image sourced from www.brisbanetimes.com.au

The Brisbane Times this morning ran an article that to many stated the bleeding obvious, Women are scared from riding a bike because of the fear (real/perceived) of being injured. This has been a thorn in the side of making cycling an everyday activity again for so long that it is getting ridiculous.
We all know that corridors have to be not only safe but also perceived as safe yet facilities continue to be built that do not meet this simple requirement.

What was a disappointing fact out of the article was that women are lagging further behind men in Brisbane compared with the other state capitals. In Brisbane women only make up 18% of bike riders for commuting trips compared with 23% with the other capitals. While 5% does not sound like much when you change it to a ratio it is a big difference. It basically means in Brisbane only 1in5 are women compared with 1 in 4 down south. Now that is a big drop.

While some of this can be put down to climatic conditions of Brisbane a lot has to be levelled at the poor infrastructure. We need better bicycle infrastructure that on arterial corridors is separated so everyone is safe but is also wide enough to allow one to overtake or be overtaken in complete safety. It is has to be considered a complete joke that the elected Council members such as Peter Matic claim that council is doing all they can. The fact is the Council is not. Council currently does not have the Political "testicles" to even extend the George St Separated Bikelanes a few blocks up to Anne St, or to have provided Separated bikelanes along Sylvan Rd even though the cost would of been minor and the safety increase would of been high.

We know what needs to be done to encourage more women to ride a bike we just need the politicians to have the Political Testicles.