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In short:
Hobart City Council's recently approved transport strategy aims to increase cycleways and public transport use and decrease car reliance.
An urban planner says increasing cycling infrastructure can lead to more people commuting on bikes and change negative perceptions of cyclists.
What's next?
Collins Street and Augusta Road in the city are listed as priority projects for cycleway upgrades.
A sure-fire way to get a Hobartian riled up is to mention the traffic. But living in a smaller capital city, are they justified in their complaints?
Hobart City councillor and mobility portfolio chair Ryan Posselt said Hobart had some unique transport challenges.
"We've got more complexities in Hobart than some of the other capital cities in the country, with no bypass road from the north to the south. So all city traffic has to transit through the city itself," he said.
As anyone who has spent time in a car in the city can attest to, this bottlenecking means an incident can slow down traffic right across greater Hobart.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, greater Hobart has the highest rate of vehicle trips by car of all Australian cities, per capita.
This heavy reliance on cars could end up costing residents, and future plans for the city encourage more commuters to adopt cycling and public transport.
Bikes get the green light
Hobart City Council has recently approved its 2024 Transport Strategy, which focuses on increasing "climate-ready, efficient transport."
A key focus of the strategy is cycleways. Some have recently popped up on Argyle and Campbell Streets, with priority projects planned for Collins Street and Augusta Road.
Alison Hetherington from the Bicycle Network of Tasmania said the upgrades would provide more people with the option to commute on a bike.
"The problem we have in Hobart is that we don't have genuine choices for transport other than cars in many instances," she said.
"So while you could say, 'Anyone can jump on a bike and ride on a road', for the vast majority of the population who are open to the idea of riding, that's too scary," she said.
Ms Hetherington said only a small percentage of the population was comfortable riding on roads, the majority of those being men.
She hoped the upgrades would change that.
"It invites more women to ride, more families with children to ride, and older people to ride."
Ms Hetherington wanted public transport options in Hobart to start integrating bike riding.
"It's quite a small catchment for public transport because we're presuming that most people are walking to their local bus stop or ferry terminal," she said.
"If you can expand that catchment, by making it easy to ride to that stop or terminal and park your bike securely, you then increase the number of people who are more likely to catch public transport."
Why some people hate cyclists
It isn't just a distaste for lycra. Some studies suggest the appearance of cyclists contributes to dehumanisation.
Urban planner and researcher at the Queensland University of Technology Mark Limb conducted a study that found 30 per cent of people considered cyclists less than fully human.
The study was broken down by riders' attire, and found people wearing helmets were perceived as less human than those without, and cyclists with safety vests and no helmet were perceived as the least human.
"It associates you with being a cyclist, which is an out-group", Dr Limb said.
"We have such poor bike infrastructure in Australia, and the net effect is someone feeling like they're being held up by the person on the bicycle.
"When you give people high-quality infrastructure, and they start using it, not only will they not be in your way, because they're on the separate infrastructure, they're also one less bit of traffic."
According to the 2019 Greater Hobart Household Travel Survey, 2 per cent of weekday commutes were on bikes.
Dr Limb said increasing this number by a small margin could improve traffic flow through the city, as well as lift people's perception of cyclists.
"In countries where cycling is more common, it's entirely normalised and people are far less aggro on the road," he said.
"It's a simple case of just having the infrastructure there. If you build it, they do eventually come."
'Choice in how we move'
Councillor Ryan Posselt said there would always be a place for cars in Hobart, but the strategy was about giving people other options.
"Referencing the 2019 RACT transport review, they found that shifting just 4 per cent of commuters to alternative forms of transport would decrease congestion significantly and increase parking availability for those who have to drive," he said.
CEO for Tasmania's Small Business Council Robert Mallett was concerned a reduction in on-street car parking would cause problems for businesses in the city.
"It completely destroys the idea of having a central business district," he said.
Mr Mallett said the Collins Street cycleway project, which proposed removing around 50 car parking spots, would negatively impact businesses in the area.
"It won't be worth being in the city anymore for a business, and the recipients of that will be Glenorchy, Kingborough, and Clarence. Businesses will say, 'I can rent or purchase property for significantly less. I've got free parking'," he said.
Mr Posselt said the strategy considered the most appropriate use for the street.
"In some areas of the city, it may well be on-street parking," he said.
"It might be specifically DDA [Disability Discrimination Act] compliant accessible parking spots.
"And for other areas of the city, it may be on-street dining or bike lanes."
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