A nationwide survey on cycling in Australia reveals that about 4 million people across the country ride the bicycle every week, and Victoria has the biggest number of active cyclists.

The result could push state and local governments to increase safety measures meant to protect cyclists, said a Sydney Morning Herald report.

The National Cycling Participation Survey, believed to be the largest conducted on Australian cycling, was commissioned as part of a five-year federal and state cycling strategy.

The National Cycling Strategy 2011-2016 aims to double the number of Australian bicycle riders. To determine whether this target is being achieved, the Australian Bicycle Council commissioned research to obtain data on participation. The survey was funded by all state and territory road authorities - the first of its kind in Australia.

The survey, taken between February and April this year, was conducted by telephone interviews, through a random selection of households across Australia. A total of 9,661 households, consisting of 24,858 individuals, participated. Respondents were asked when they and other members of their household last rode a bicycle. They were also asked to share how often and for what purposes they rode their bicycles.

Cycling Survey Results

The data gathered from the National Cycling Participation Survey were released by the Australian Bicycle Council Wednesday and published in the Cycling Resource Centre site.

Victorians were found to be the most active cyclists, reaching up to 1.08 million bike rides a week. in Melbourne, 367,000 people use the bicycle for transportation, more than for leisure.

Other state figures are as follows: New South Wales (1.05 million), Queensland (814,000), Western Australia (512,000), South Australia (299,000), Tasmania (97,000), the ACT (79,000) and the Northern Territory (60,000).

In any given week, around 18 per cent of Australians ride the bicycle for recreation and transport; 3.6 million people ride the bike for recreations, leisure or sport and 1.2 million people use the bicycle for transport in a week - for trips to school, work, shops, and visits to family and friends.

The Northern Territory, ACT and Western Australia have cycling participation rates significantly higher than the national average. NSW has lowest rate of participation.

Children have the highest participation in cycling: about half of all 2-to-4-year-olds, about two-thirds of all 5-to-9-year-olds, and one third of all 10-to-17-year-olds ride the bicycle in a week. This drops dramatically in adulthood, with just 9 per cent of people aged 40 and over riding in a typical week. This has been observed in all states and territories.

Men and boys have higher participation than women and girls: 22 per cent of males and 13 per cent of females ride the bicycle in a week. The gender difference is minimal for children under the age of 10 and less in areas where there are generally higher levels of participation across all age groups

"These results shine the light on the numbers and types of people across Australia who are riding bikes each week, each month, each year - and the reasons they are riding," said Harry Barber, chief executive of Bicycle Victoria.