Monday 8 February 2016

Council election Saturday 19 March 2016

TBUG surveys all the local council candidates for their views on cycling issues.

Not all candidates choose to respond but we note that next to their names.

The last election survey is here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/91204128/TRC-2012-Cycle-Survey 

If you have any questions you would like to ask candidates on cycling related issues please send them to Toowoomba BUG at: toowoombabug@gmail.com

Bike Safety Survey

Dear member of Toowoomba BUG,

My name is Athena Ng, and I am a Master of Public Health student at Queensland University of Technology. For my degree, I am doing a thesis about Cyclists' Safety Perceptions of Various Cycling-Supportive Road Treatments at Un-signalised Intersections.

For my thesis, I am asking you to complete a 20-minute online survey about your perceptions of cycling through intersections. The findings of the survey will be reported back to Bicycle Queensland, Queensland BUGs, and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. The link to the online survey is http://survey.qut.edu.au/f/186072/25bc/ and attached are further details about the study.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact me at athena.ng@connect.qut.edu.au.

Please note that this study has been approved by the Queensland University of Technology Research Ethics Committee (approval number 1500000945).

Many thanks for your help with this study!

Best regards,
Athena Ng
Principal Investigator
Masters Student
Queensland University of Technology

Dr. Kristiann Heesch
Principal Supervisor
07 3138 5460
Senior Lecturer - School of Public Health and Social Work
Queensland University of Technology

Dr. Ashim Debnath
Associate Supervisor
07 3138 8423
Research Fellow
Queensland University of Technology


Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Australia PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FOR QUT RESEARCH PROJECT

Cyclists’ Safety Perceptions about Various Cycling-Supportive Road Treatments at Un-signalised Intersections – Quantitative Survey Study of Queensland Cyclists

QUT Ethics Approval Number 1500000945

RESEARCH TEAM
Principal Researcher:         Athena Ng                             Masters Student
Principal Supervisor:          Dr Kristiann Heesch            School of Public Health and Social Work
Associate Supervisor:         Dr Ashim Debnath               School of Psychology and Counselling
                                                                                               Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

Description
One of the major issues that can discourage people from cycling on-road is the risk of being involved in a road collision with a motorist. In particular, the road intersection is a high risk location for road collisions between motorists and cyclists. Therefore, cycling facilities and cycling-supportive road treatments at intersections have been recommended and used in Australia to improve on-road cyclist safety. The aim of this study is to investigate which cycling facilities and road treatments do Queensland cyclists perceive to be the safest at un-signalised intersections.

You are invited to participate in this study because you are a member of a bicycle user group and/or a member of Bicycle Queensland. Your cycling experiences will be very useful to this study.

Participation
Participation will involve completing an anonymous online survey. You will be asked about your safety perceptions about the safety of cycling at un-signalised intersections. You will rate your safety perceptions on a scale from very unsafe to very safe. You will also be asked about whether you have experienced a collision, near-miss, and/or single-cyclist accident while cycling, your cycling habits, and your basic demographic information (for example, gender, year of birth).

The online survey should take 20 minutes to complete. Only complete the survey if you are aged 18 years or over. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. Your decision to participate or not participate will not impact upon your current or future relationship with QUT. If you agree to participate, you may withdraw from the study without any statement or penalty as long as you do not submit your survey. If you do submit it, you will no longer be able to withdraw from the study because your data is not identifiable and therefore the researchers will not be able to find and delete it.

Expected benefits
It is expected that this study will not directly benefit you. However it will help the researcher gain insight into cyclists’ safety perceptions about un-signalised intersections. The outcomes of this study will be beneficial to future researchers and organisation interested in safety policies, town planning, and road engineering. They may use the findings from this study to assist future studies or make informed decisions on projects.

Risks
There are no risks beyond normal day-to-day living associated with your participation in this study. However, if you have experienced adverse events while cycling (for example, road accident, injuries) or have been impacted by someone close to you who has experienced adverse events while cycling and feel that answering questions about cyclist safety may cause you significant distress, then it is advised that you may prefer not to participate in this study.

QUT provides for limited free psychology, family therapy or counselling services (face-to-face only) for research participants of QUT projects who may experience discomfort or distress as a result of their participation in the research. Should you wish to access this service please call the Clinic Receptionist on 07 3138 0999 (Monday–Friday only 9am–5pm), QUT Psychology and Counselling Clinic, 44 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, and indicate that you are a research participant. Alternatively, Lifeline provides access to online, phone or face-to-face support, call 13 11 14 for 24 hour telephone crisis support.

PRIVACY AND Confidentiality
All comments and responses are anonymous and will be treated confidentially unless required by law.

Any data collected as part of this project will be stored securely as per QUT’s Management of Research Data Policy. Please note the non-identifiable data collected in this study may be used as comparative data in future projects stored on an open access database for secondary data analysis.

Consent to Participate
Submitting the completed online survey is accepted as an indication of your consent to participate in this study.

Questions / further information about the project
If you have any questions or require further information please contact one of the researchers listed below.

Athena Ng                         athena.ng@connect.qut.edu.au
Kristiann Heesch              k.heesch@qut.edu.au                        07 3138 5460
Ashim Debnath                 ashim.debnath@qut.edu.au             07 3138 8423

Concerns / complaints regarding the conduct of the project
QUT is committed to research integrity and the ethical conduct of research projects.  However, if you do have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the project you may contact the QUT Research Ethics Advisory Team on 07 3138 5123 or email ethicscontact@qut.edu.au. The QUT Research Ethics Advisory Team is not connected with the research project and can facilitate a resolution to your concern in an impartial manner.

Thank you for helping with this research project.  Please keep this sheet for your information.