Last minute submission having just become aware of the consultation process to request that a legitimate mode of transport is not excluded at the next census as it was in the last census.
Choose your area of interest
Please select one item
(Required)
Population
Sex and gender
Households and families
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Income and work
Unpaid work and care
Education and training
Disability and carers
Housing
Location
Ticked
Transport
Cultural diversity
Religion
Other topic
Topics on Transport
Choose one or more of the following topics that relates to your submission
Please select all that apply
Ticked
Mode of travel to work
Name and address of workplace attended
Ticked
Number of motor vehicles
Ticked
Other/unknown
If other please specify
Utilization of vehicles, trip purposes (not only used for commuting to work), frequency of use, distances travelled, etc
Assessment Criteria 1
1.
This topic is of current national importance.
National Importance
Motorcycles are a ready to go now congestion solution. They have been the fastest growing road user sector for most of the last decade. Industry sources indicate that there are almost twice the number of off-road bikes as registered on road bikes, so there are over two million motorcycles getting about for recreation, utility and discretionary purposes that are not well understood. As cities face population growth and pressure on limited space resources, understanding motorcycles, how, when, where and what they are used for will help substantially with transport policy planning.
The census needs to reflect this specialized personal transport mode.
Assessment Criteria 2
2.
There is a need for data from a Census of the whole population.
For whole population
A broader understanding of motorcycle use and a broader understanding of the riding demographic is needed. How motorcycles are integrated into Australian society, how many owners also drive, how many households have more than one, where they are, what correlations exist with other key demographic dimensions etc, can help guide policy in multiple areas - employment, business planning, health in addition to transport policy.
Assessment Criteria 3
3.
The topic can be accurately collected in a form which the household completes themselves.
Easy to answer
After the snub in the previous census, riders are very keen to share information about their bike usage. It won't be a big ask. Motorcycle use cuts across transport, recreation, personal expression, hobby, enthusiast, convenience, financial imperatives, sport, recreation, modern convenience, art, collection and other aspects of how we live our lives so motorcycling should be a possible answer to many broad possibly unintuitive questions.
Assessment Criteria 4
4.
The topic would be acceptable to Census respondents.
Acceptable
As stated, riders would be keen to share information. Non riders won't care that motorcycles / motorcycling has appeared in multiple spots in the census.
Assessment Criteria 5
5.
The topic can be collected efficiently.
Collected efficiently
Give respondents the opportunity to express how they use their bikes and they will. This will not present an issue to coding or census design.
Assessment Criteria 6
6.
There is likely to be a continuing need for data on this topic in the following Census.
Continuing need
As our population increases and greater pressures are placed on road space, there will be a greater need for this information and trends in this area going forward.
Assessment Criteria 7
7.
There are no other alternative data sources or solutions that could meet the topic need.
No alternatives
Some broader statistics are collected in terms of registrations, sales etc, but self reported usage correlated with other demographic dimensions is not available.
Any further comments?
If you would like to tell us anything else about your submission, please comment below.
Further comments
Motorcycling is known to engage more parts of the brain at the same time than almost any other activity. It's known to have great mental health benefits. Off road riding is known to have excellent physical benefits. Recent studies confirm its congestion beating and environmental improving benefits (Leuven study) and a study in Paris confirmed that motorcycle use resulted in a net positive cash flow for the city. The promotion of motorcycling will bring these benefits, but better and broader data is needed.