Council Plan
Cycling is mentioned under Safety and Wellbeing:
- Proportion of trips made by public transport, bicycle or on foot. Increase
- Continue to implement the Transport Strategy 2030, including delivery of a protected bike lane network, station precincts as key gateways, little streets as streets for people, safer speed limits, micro mobility trials, more efficient traffic
- signal timing and bicycling encouragement programs
Noted that increasing the proportion of trips by bicycle will also have a positive effect on other Strategic Objectives including:
- Climate and biodiversity emergency
- Access and affordability
An indicator needs to be added to the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency Objective as follows:
Reduction in transport related greenhouse emissions on Council controlled Roads.
Initiatives are needed to ensure that transport related emissions decrease. Examples of initiatives:
Discourage motor vehicle use by reducing road capacity, specifically by preventing use of local roads by through traffic (rat running) and by converting traffic lanes on arterial roads to protected bicycle lanes, wider footpaths and parkland.
(above actions are already included in the Transport Strategy 2030).
Delivery of the Transport Strategy is progressing well and we are pleased to see it is supported by the Draft Council Plan.
Budget
Funding for Cycling Infrastructure is generally at a good level. We expect this to support the Council Plan by increasing the number and proportion of cycling trips, supporting Health, Safety and Climate Emergency Objectives of the Plan.
The protected lanes being rolled at this year are of generally excellent standard and we are pleased to note that low-cost and flexible construction methods have been adopted. In particular the work of Council’s Engineering Department is commended. Unprecedented levels of cooperation from the State Department of Transport have been crucial and this momentum needs to be maintained, especially in relation to roads controlled by the State. St Kilda Road lanes are a welcome example of State funded protected lanes on State controlled roads, built by City of Melbourne. This example needs to be extended to other State arterials including Royal Parade, Flemington Rd, Victoria Street/Pde, Wellington Pde, Clarendon/Spencer/Dynon St/Rd, City Road and Lorimer Street.
On City controlled roads, funding for cycle infrastructure will enable the expansion of the network, and will also result in better connections. Gaps in the network are being filled in, which removes disincentives to ride and enhances the effectiveness of every part of the network. There is still much to be done, with many, indeed most of the arterial roads in the City are still left with only door-zone unprotected bike lanes.
Regarding budget allocations, our only query is 2022-23 where Cycle Infrastructure drops from $8m to $2.6m. The faster the City provides protected lanes on arterials, the sooner benefits will be reaped and it seems inconsistent to drop expenditure when so much remains to be achieved. Over the four years of the budget the funding amounts are $8m, 2.6m, 4m and 4m. We suggest a funding profile of $8m, 5m, 4m, 4m.
Currently there is a disconnect between the Budget, the Plan and the Transport Strategy. Implementing the Transport Strategy requires funding, provided in the Budget. However there is no way of knowing whether the funding is adequate and what projects can be delivered each year at the levels of funding proposed. We appreciate that the people who can estimate costs for projects are the same staff who are currently delivering protected bike lanes at an unprecedented rate, nevertheless without relating the budget to even rough estimates of project costs we are left guessing as to whether adequate outcomes will be delivered. We need a list of projects and costs and estimated delivery years.