Adelaide’s commuter cyclists are concentrated in the inner suburbs, particularly the south, an analysis by InDaily reveals.

Bike use is heaviest in the areas around Unley, Parkside, Goodwood and Millswood in the inner south, and Norwood and St Peters in the inner east.

A leading cycling lobby-group says the data vindicates the pro-cycling policies – particularly speed-limit reductions – of inner-suburbs councils.

Top areas: Goodwood-Millswood, Unley-Parkside, Norwood, St Peters-Marden

The data is drawn from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ journey-to-work dataset, from the 2011 census. It represents the number of people saying they used a bike as their primary mode of transport to work.

The map plots this data, with colour shade representing bike use per head of population. Darker greens mean more bike use; lighter shades mean lower use per head of population.

The map uses the ABS’s statistical boundaries, which represent populations of between 3000 and 25,000 residents.

The map clearly shows bike use is concentrated in the inner suburbs, with a very dramatic fall-off in the middle and outer suburbs.

Bicycle SA CEO Christian Haag said that result was probably driven by riders who worked in the city and lived in the inner suburbs.

“Predictably we see the ring councils as key sources of riders. It’s generally accepted that these would be CBD workers or those commuting to other ring-council commercial areas.”

Unley-Parkside records the highest rate of cycling-to-work per head of population. Interestingly, its residents are also amongst the highest users of public transport, predominantly buses and trams.

“Unley appears to be the largest ride source,” Haag said.

“Interestingly, the council has a strong culture of [cycling] encouragement but also I would see the 40kmh zones throughout the council area as creating an environment conducive to more people getting on their bike; proof yet again that reduced speed limits works to mitigate those real and perceived barriers that roads are unsafe.”