COVID kept cycle paths quiet until weekend warriors came out in force

Despite the overall downturn, there was a 31 per cent spike in the number of bicycle trips on Saturdays and Sundays.

Griffith University transport researcher Matthew Burke said the drop from Monday to Friday made sense as most of the counters were on commuter routes.

“That simply reflected the disappearance of office workers in the city throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns,” Dr Burke said.

“It also reflects the loss of students cycling to the large university campuses, including QUT, Griffith and especially UQ as we all went online.

“By contrast, we actually saw an increase in suburban cycling and child cycling as other exercise options disappeared with the closure of gyms and people had to walk or cycle in their local…