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National Ride to Work Day 2007 was a fantastic success in my home state of NSW, with registrations up a whopping 500%. There is no doubt that by working together in an open and collaborative way through networks such as that afforded by the Bicycle Coalition, we can better progress the bike riding agenda – particularly when we are able to generate impact in the media and involve politicians at a personal level. We had a number of NSW Ministers and MPs personally involved in the Ride to Work Day, as well as a national media partnership with the ABC and local links with the Sydney Morning Herald which really helped to lift awareness of the broad community benefits of riding to work. In addition we are very grateful for the support of the Corporate sector, and in particular Lend Lease who have shown real vision in extending support to their workplaces around the world! It is very encouraging to see large employers such as Lend Lease embrace bike riding to assist in delivery of Climate Change and Employee Health and Productivity initiatives. We are delighted to be working through the Bicycle Coalition in 2008 to deliver the National Ride to School program, along with bigger and better Ride to Work initiatives, and we are very grateful for the support of all our Corporate partners as well as Local, State and the Commonwealth Government in these programs. Community concerns relating to climate change, community health, transport and social cohesion are growing and the positive contribution that bike riding makes in these areas is well understood. As the case for action to address these concerns becomes more compelling and urgent, a key priority for Bicycle NSW is the continued development of working relationships between stakeholders who share societal level goals relating to active sustainable transport and the solutions offered by bike riding to address the community concerns noted above. Following the November 2008 Federal Election we have a window of political alignment between the Commonwealth and all the State Governments for the first time in many years. With this in mind the creation of stronger links and relationships among interested groups in the bike riding world has even greater potential and relevance to us all. I welcome suggestions and ideas from all our readers about how we might together achieve our goal of more people riding bikes more often – so please feel free to get in touch. In the meantime I wish all readers all the very best for 2008 and remember……..Life’s better on a bike!Alex UnwinChief Executive Officer, Bicycle NSWaunwin@bicyclensw.org.au
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