Balmain’s brilliant bike bus

Rebecca loved the freedom and utility of bike riding in Amsterdam (Image: Rebecca Fernandez O'Shea)

Finding a way to get wheeling in Sydney

I moved to Sydney after a long time away and settled in Balmain, a suburb entirely new to me. It is close to the city but surprisingly dominated by cars. I was struggling even to work out how to cycle to work. Busy stroads, no bike lanes and a rather intimidating 8-lane bridge over the harbour were my obstacles!

As luck would have it, about 5 months ago I saw a post in the local Facebook group about a group ride from Balmain into the Sydney CBD. I was the first (and only, on that day) attendee of the new Balmain Bike Bus, run by some energetic advocates from the Sustainable Transport sub group of Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle.

I was quickly recruited to this group, and together we’ve been running the Balmain Bike Bus ever since.

Initially, our goal was to reduce emissions caused by transport in our local area. However, our mission has now expanded to reducing reliance on cars overall - for climate, physical and mental health, safety and quality of life reasons.

The bike bus is one small but powerful way to move the dial

Each Wednesday we guide novice cyclists to the city, hoping to give them the confidence to switch to a more sustainable mode of transportation. We discuss route planning and show people existing infrastructure that they can use. We also talk about the missing connections and some of the advocacy campaigns underway to fill the gaps in the safe bike network.

Bike bus leader Keith Stallard stops the bike bus group to explain how he is working with Inner West Council and the NSW Government to improve connections to Rozelle Parklands and the Anzac Bridge cycleway. (Image: Rebecca Fernandez O'Shea)

I’d like to share a few of the lessons we’ve learned over the last few months in case anyone else is interested in having a go at organising a bike bus.

Spreading the word

Local Facebook groups have given us the most success so far. I post every week in a selection of the local groups, usually a day or two before the bike bus.

I have a short blurb providing the necessary details but also usually a sentence or two with a positive fact about cycling, or a light-hearted joke related to local or seasonal events.

For example, during train strikes earlier in the year, I made the claim that car traffic was so bad that the bike bus would be the faster commuting option. Conversely, during the school holidays I suggested that novice cyclists could take advantage of the light traffic to practise.

Positive framing

No matter what the local scenario, I try to make it sound like ditching the car and using a bike instead is the best solution.

I include a photo, either from one of our previous bike buses, or my own cycling activities, preferably with identifiable local landmarks. One of my fellow bike bus organisers is actually depicted cycling on a fantastic local mural, and so I often use that for our weekly photo.

This is just a small section of the huge new mural on the wall of Woolworths Metro in Balmain. Keith Stallard is one of dozens of local residents who feature in Community 2024 by Hugues Sineux. The bike bus starts here each week (Image: Rebecca Fernandez O’Shea)

When we ask bike bus attendees how they heard about it, almost all of them say Facebook posts, so this still an effective communication channel.

We also have printed flyers. These are posted on local noticeboards around the suburb, letterbox dropped to any house with a visible bike and handed out in bike shops. While we’re not sure if the flyers have had any effect yet, we want to have an offline way of reaching people.

The final tactic has just been approaching anyone we encounter with a bike, to ask if they’d like to join. This has given us a couple of new attendees!

Winning over government representatives

I have to preface this section by commenting on my extreme luck at having accidentally moved into an area with advocates and politicians who are as, or even more, passionate about sustainable active transport as me.

My fellow bike bus organisers are magnificent at understanding what is a local council issue, and what is a state issue. They know how to research policies and government documents to make sure specific requests are targeted at the correct people and with all the backing information they need.

Additionally, they already had some existing dialogues and relationships with a local councillor and state MP.

With all this well-prepared info, and our weekly bike bus social media posts normalising our presence in the community, we were able to convince our local reps to join us for some rides.

First, we showed Inner West Councillor Kerrie Fergusson an extended version of our bike bus route. There were lots of chances to point out the good parts - and the bad.

A photo of the bike bus organisers with Councillor Kerrie Fergusson (centre), in front of a shuttered Booth Street. Soon after the ride, Council supported a motion to open this section of Booth Street to create an active transport corridor between the White Bay cruise ship terminal and Darling Street, Balmain’s lively high street! (Image: Councillor Kerrie Fergusson)

Councillor Fergusson has since gone on to submit more proposals for infrastructure changes on local streets, including new walking and cycling paths along one of our most dangerous stretches of road, Robert Street.

She also frequently shares our bike bus info on her social media pages, and leaves encouraging comments on our posts on local groups.

And Councillor Fergusson has also been instrumental at opening up broader discussions around sustainable transport within the Inner West Council. She always makes sure our local group is invited to provide feedback and insights.

Councillor Kerrie Fergusson’s social media post after Council unanimously supported her motion to create a separated cycle and pedestrian path along Robert Street in Balmain (Image: Will Atkins)

We then had the honour of hosting Kobi Shetty MP, Member for Balmain, on another of our bike bus rides. This was advertised in advance, and tempting locals with the chance of chatting to their local MP for the duration of the ride was a great success. We had record numbers that week!

Our biggest ever bike bus, with Kobi Shetty MP (third from left), pauses near the Victoria Road underpass (Image: Ellis Bou-Harb)

At the end of that ride, we went to check out the Glebe Island Bridge. I could write a whole separate blog post about this project. But in short, one of key goals is to get the bridge re-opened and available for active transport.

Kobi has since put forward a motion in NSW Parliament to get the ball rolling. She has also set up petition to restore the Glebe Island Bridge that I hope everyone in the cycling community will sign.

Our group is very excited as the Anzac Bridge is one of the most intimidating sections of the bike bus route for new cyclists. I strongly believe the Glebe Island Bridge will be more physically and psychologically achievable for people – and a big step forward in convincing them to leave the car at home (and then sell it…!)

Kobi has just introduced a Bill to enact 30km/h speed limits on local streets state-wide. This would be a huge win for active transport! I get a lot of feedback from people who are still too scared to join our bike bus, because they don’t feel safe enough on our streets with the traffic. Lowering vehicle speeds to 30km/h locally would help to ensure their safety and convince them to join us for a ride.

Please add your signature to this petition too.