About the Sign Tool

Aaron Burger Bicycle NSW Volunteer

About two months ago, my family relocated from the United States to Sydney. A few weeks after, my bicycle arrived, and for several days all I wanted to do was ride it. When I finally got to, I was immediately impressed by what Sydney had to offer. The maps I read showed a vast network of shared paths and bike lanes that seemed to cover the entire metropolitan area. I started by biking from Rockdale to Sutherland, following the Grand Parade and the Pacific Ocean along one of the best-paved paths I have ever ridden on. I've got to hand it to you Sydney: it was absolutely extraordinary.

But it wouldn't be long before I uncovered the darker-or maybe the less clear-side of Sydney's bicycle infrastructure. On a later ride, I was using the M4 path to get to Homebush Bay. All was going well, but then all of a sudden, the path disappeared. There were signs leading up to that point, but there was no sign at this key location, a location where a turn was required. I spent the next few minutes trying to figure out where I was in relation to the path, at one point accidentally biking back the way I came.  A similar issue occurred later in the ride at Huntleys Point, where a lack of directions caused me to nearly take a bridge to Lane Cove instead of Drummoyne.

I can't imagine I'm the only one with stories like these. But I'm definitely not the only one who thinks missing signs are an obstacle to using a bicycle for routine transport. If people don't expect to be able to successfully navigate to their destination on a bicycle, they'll opt to drive instead, sacrificing potential energy efficiency. As for people my age, there's no fun in having to continually check where you are or ending up lost in an unfamiliar neighbourhood. There's a reason why a study has shown we, on average, prefer homework to cycling.

But I want that to change. I'm building an online utility to pinpoint where exactly signs ought to be. These can be directional signs for bike paths, street signs, or anything that would benefit a cyclist's ability to know where they are. Your reports will be investigated and reported to the RTA and local councils in hopes that some day getting lost, will itself get lost.

Click here to report a missing sign