In the face of declining population levels of physical activity, programs that encourage cycling represent an under-developed strategy in Australia. In 2003, we implemented a pilot cycling proficiency training (CPT) program for adults in central Sydney, New South Wales. To evaluate the program, participants completed pre- and post-course self-administered questionnaires and participated in a follow-up telephone interview 2 months after their course. Between April and December 2003, 20 CPT courses were conducted. Of 113 people who started a course, 81 (72%) completed at least one course (beginner or intermediate) and 105 (93%) took part in the pre and follow-up interview. Participant satisfaction with all aspects of the course was high. At 2-month follow-up, the course had significantly increased participants' self-reported skills and confidence for cycling. More than half of the participants (56%) said they cycled more 2 months after the course. There was a 40% increase in participants having cycled in the previous week at follow-up among baseline non-cyclists, although this was not statistically significant. There was also a significant increase in weekly participation in other forms of moderate intensity physical activity. Overall, the program was reasonably successful, particularly among those people not cycling at baseline. Cycling proficiency training for adults is one strategy that can supplement other active transport policies to encourage physical activity, although bicycle friendly urban planning and policies are still required to create more supportive environments for cyclists.

Promoting active transport is an increasingly important focus of recent health promotion initiatives addressing the major public health concerns of car dependence, decreased levels of physical activity and environmental health. Using active transport that relies less on the use of private cars and more on alternatives such as walking, cycling and public transport has the potential to increase population levels of physical activity and to improve the environment. Over 12 months, a combined social and individualized marketing campaign was delivered to a cohort of randomly selected health service employees (n = 68) working at a health care facility in inner-city Sydney, Australia. Pre- and post-intervention surveys measured changes in mode of transport, awareness of active transport and attitudes towards mode of transport. Following the intervention, we found there was a reduction in the proportion of participants who drove to work 5 days per week and a decrease in trips travelled by car on weekends. In addition, there was high awareness of the intervention amongst participants and their understanding of the concept of active transport improved from 17.6% at baseline to 94.1% at the follow-up survey (p < 0.01). There was also a significant shift in attitudes, which suggested increased positive regard for active transport. Our findings suggest that a combined social and individualized marketing campaign in the workplace setting can increase the use of active transport for the journey to work and trips on weekends. However, before these findings are widely applied, the intervention needs to be tested in a controlled study with a larger sample size.

Women are less likely than men to reach recommended levels of physical activity and have unequal access to active leisure time. Studies in Australia have consistently found that women are only half as likely as men to be adequately active. A community-based multi-strategic health promotion intervention, 'Concord, A Great Place to be Active', was implemented from 1997 to 1999. It aimed to increase the physical activity levels of women aged 20-50 years living in the Concord Local Government Area (LGA), an inner-western region of Sydney, Australia. A key feature of this intervention was a partnership between Concord Council (the local government) and the Central Sydney Health Promotion Unit (CSHPU). The project was evaluated using qualitative and quantitative methods. Key informant interviews and focus groups were conducted to inform the development of the intervention and to assess the impact of the project on Concord Council. Pre- and post-intervention telephone surveys of the target group were also conducted. Following the intervention, there was a statistically significant (6.4%) reduction in the proportion of sedentary women. Further, there were a number of positive enhancements in the Council's capacity to promote physical activity in the community. These findings demonstrate that a community-based intervention targeting a specific population can achieve positive changes in physical activity and that a local government has the capacity to be involved in and sustain physical activity interventions.

A simple lean-burning hydrogen carburettor system was developed and shown to be practical and no more complex than a normal throttled LPG-type carburettor. A beam LPG carburettor formed the basis of the hardware. The basic mechanism used to achieve the quality-controlled mixture delivery was to connect the pedal control to the valve which is normally used only for presetting the mixture strength and to deactivate the butterfly valve in the range down to an equivalence ratio of 0.25. The system was laboratory flow tested to ensure the correct characteristics. The engine requirements of optimum spark advance were measured and a mixture control, spark advance and throttle (i.e. mixture) control-linkage designed. After adjustment the vehicle was found to be slightly more driveable in the quality-controlled mode than in the normal quantity control mode and also showed a slightly better fuel consumption on an urban-type route. There was also reduced backflashing since the engine spends less time at stoichiometric.