Canberra has held firm on its reputation as a car city, just 3 per cent of people riding regularly, Greens MLA Jo Clay said.

Despite targets to transition more people from cars to bikes, improvement has not been made for a very long time, Ms Clay said during an active travel event at the Australian National University this week.

"That tells me we're not putting enough resources into it," she said.

A national walking and cycling survey conduced in 2021 found 41 per cent of ACT residents were interested in riding, however, participation had not increased since 2019.

While Canberra topped the capitals for bike commuting during the last census, with a national average of 1 per cent riding to work, Australia has fallen behind cycle-friendly cities like Amsterdam, with 38 per cent of trips by bike.

Cycling advocacy group, Pedal Power ACT, said its members reported safety as the major barrier keeping them off Canberra roads.

A separated cycleway and not having to ride on the road were the two most common responses to what would get them riding for transport.

Chris Levings cycles from Dickson to work in the city most days, down Northbourne in about 15 minutes, around the same time it would take to drive and park.

Provided you "keep your wits about you" it felt safe, he said.

It also saved about $18 per day in parking and delivers him to the door feeling energised.

"It's worth three coffees in terms of waking up my brain," Mr Levings said.

"I wouldn't drive if it was free."

Mr Levings said end-of-trip facilities, lockers and a storage cage at work made the organisation aspect easy and rugging up in winter gets him over the frosty morning hurdle.

"I'm a massive wuss and I'm okay with a bit of gear on," he said.

Mr Levings guessed his one-car family was an outlier among his friends.

The continued reliance on cars over public transport and bikes was soon to become a big issue for Canberra, Ms Clay said.

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Lowering the speed limit while diverting investment from roads into footpaths and cycleways would go some way to improved safety for cyclists, she said.

She said Canberra had a similar footprint to Sydney with about 10 per cent of the population, incentivising people on the fringes to drive.

"We also need to realise because we're so car-dependent we have growing congestion, we're growing three times faster than every other city," she said.

"We're going through a major planning review at the moment, including reviewing the entire territory plan and that's a really good opportunity to make sure we do things better than perhaps we did in the 1960s."

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