On Apr 12, 2010, at 10:06 AM, Scott Rose wrote: >> > > I would say that the Australian Automobile Association is much closer to > being "an Australian version of the AAA" than RACV is. RACV is a strange > bird-- it has its roots as a social club, and operates resorts and an > insurance operation today. I don't think we'll see the Australian Automobile > Association starting up bike-share programs any time soon, though RACV is a > member organization. > >>
As nearly as I could tell when I researched it several years ago, the Australian Automobile Association didn't amount to much, just sort of a national umbrella organization, the real auto club activities undertaken by the state auto clubs, of which RACV is the Victorian one, RACQ Queensland, etc. While they have reciprocity, they're quite independent, as are the Australian states in general. I don't know the history of RACV, but it is no doubt different from that of the others, which may explain its relatively bike-friendly attitude. Victoria in general, of course, is the most progressive of Australian states. It's also a great place for bike touring during the northern winter, though Melbourne wasn't all that bike-friendly when I was last there in 2005. Scott Ellington Madison, Wisconsin USA _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
