Melbourne Bicycle User Group

Update 24/12/2013

Council has informed Melbourne BUG that their proposal to continue the bicycle lane to the intersection was refused by the State Government (through Vicroads), with the following justification (Council’s statements are in italics, our responses are in bold font).

The likely impacts of the proposed Melbourne BUG treatment are outlined below.
 
Less green time for cyclists: the proposal would require extensive changes to the traffic signals at this intersection. Because cyclists and turning traffic would need to be time separated under the proposal, there would be significantly less green traffic signal time for cyclists. Therefore cyclists would have longer wait times and may be tempted to ignore the signals.
 
Less green time for pedestrians: the proposal would also require fully controlled left turns, thus potentially reducing pedestrian green times, and leading to longer waits and longer queues for left turn vehicles in Elizabeth Street.  
The additional time offered by the current design is only useful if you are prepared to ride, or walk across the intersection at the same time as cars are turning. Bikes are very efficient at moving through an intersection, a given number of people on bikes can traverse an intersection much more quickly than the same number of cars.
 
Limited road space: given the width of Elizabeth Street between the existing kerbs, we could not provide a bicycle lane, a physically separated island, a turn lane and two through lanes at appropriate widths. Providing narrower lanes or a narrower physical separator may compromise safety.
Given the width of Elizabeth Street at this point, it is a telling indication of the Victorian Government’s priorities to hear that there would be insufficient width to provide a safe bicycle lane.
 
Intersection capacity and efficiency: given the impacts outlined above, the proposal would reduce the efficiency and capacity of the intersection (how many vehicles / bicycles would pass through during each green cycle).
It’s all about facilitating people driving their cars to work. Morning peak is when the left turning cars are a congestion problem.
 
The current Elizabeth Street design has been utilised in other areas of the City of Melbourne, and has been found to be effective.  The turning motorists will cross the bicycle lane when entering the turn lane and safety at this potential conflict point is managed through green cycle lane pavement.  Cyclists and motorists should of course approach the conflict area with awareness and share the road.
Do you find this type of treatment effective? Do you feel safe?
 
The approved design removes the conflict between angle parking (and reversing vehicles) and cyclists and therefore offers a major improvement to cyclist safety over the existing conditions.
The kerbside lane, as far as it goes, is a major improvement, and is supported by Melbourne BUG.
 
As with all other bicycle installations, the City of Melbourne will monitor the safety and effectiveness of the Elizabeth Street physically-separated bicycle lanes and any safety issues arising from the treatment will be discussed with VicRoads
Be sure to report any crashes to Council.  Police also, but they are unlikely to record any crashes unless somebody is taken to hospital.

Original Post 10/12/2013

Above is the graphic describing the proposed “kerbside” bikelane in Elizabeth St. These lanes will run on both sides of Elizabeth Street between the Haymarket roundabout and Queensberry Street.  You can see that bikes will emerge from behind the parked cars, immediately into the path of left-turning cars.  The cars have a green arrow for part of the cycle, so they are expecting to have absolute right-of-way and won’t be slowing down. The cars won’t see bikes coming down the hill, until they come out in front of them.

Melbourne BUG’s proposal, given to Council at an early stage, was to keep the bikelane kerbside all the way to the stop line. Left-turning cars and straight-ahead bikes can be separated in time and space by using the traffic light cycle. There is a turning phase already in use here, when cars turn right from Queensberry into Elizabeth, exiting the City, and left turning cars coming towards the City down Elizabeth St get a green left-turn arrow. During this phase, bikes would get a red light (stopping straight-ahead movement but still allowing left turns into the Queensberry St bike lane). During the straight-ahead green light in Elizabeth St, left-turning cars would get a red arrow under the BUG’s proposal, making it safe for cyclists to go straight ahead.

The type of design proposed by Melbourne BUG is standard in the Netherlands, and is increasingly in use in Copenhagen.

The design proposed by the City of Melbourne undermines the purpose of the protected bike lane. Why does the protection run out where it is needed most, at the intersection?

Answer, the City of Melbourne doesn’t believe in its own Transport Strategy.

For example, page 50 of the Transport Strategy includes “Traditionally, traffic growth has been met by allocating more space to cars often at the expense of trams, buses, pedestrians and cycling…the municipality’s road network needs to be optimised for the more space-efficient modes, including dedicated lanes for trams, bus priority lanes, bicycles lanes, wider pedestrian footpaths, safer and more comfortable level access tram stops and significantly better priority for space efficient vehicles at traffic lights especially trams, buses and pedestrians.”

The City’s “Road Safety Plan” states on page 25 “…the City of Melbourne proposes a city where people take priority over the flow of traffic.” and “…the City of Melbourne clearly prioritises pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, particularly within the central city as having a key role in the future prosperity, liveability and sustainability of the city. On this basis…vulnerable road users should be supported by the physical environment…”

In practice, not so much.

Please write to Cr Cathy Oke, chair of Council’s transport committee and ask for the BUG’s safer design to be implemented.

Cr Cathy Oke
Phone: 03 9658 9086
Email: cathy.oke@melbourne.vic.gov.au

City of Melbourne
GPO Box 1603
Melbourne VIC 3001

With the approval of the 2013-2014 budget, the City of Melbourne has proven to be a sprinter rather than the grand tour winner it aspires to be. Melbourne Bicycle User Group argues that this approach is inadequate to realise the goal of council's Bicycle Plan, namely to get Melbourne on the map as a real cycling city and promote cycling as a sustainable way of transportation.

Just two years ago, Melbourne was only the second city in the world to receive the "Bike city" qualification from the International Cycling Union UCI, after Copenhagen. The award recognised both the improvements made to cycling infrastructure as well as the long-term commitment to promote cycling as a sustainable means of transportation. A couple of days later, Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France. Adding to the general excitement about cycling in Melbourne, the City of Melbourne developed the Bicycle Plan, outlining ambitious infrastructure improvements over the period until 2016, with the goal that “In a cycling city, riders of all ages and abilities need to feel safe and comfortable”. In its Plan, the City aimed to get more people riding, by building infrastructure that felt safe for everyone, not just the young and fearless. Council was dreaming of victory in the grand tour that was about to take off, visualising world class infrastructure in LaTrobe St and on Princess Bridge, which would persuade current would-be cyclists to enjoy a regular ride to work, the shops or entertainment activities in the city.

Fast forward to last month’s council meeting. Was the euphoria in 2011 just a sugar high, or the result of using some fancy performance enhancing substance? Sure enough, the chevron-separated lanes in Clarendon St (East Melbourne) are a joy to ride, and the separated lanes on LaTrobe St are a great development that make riding there a vastly less hostile experience. Unfortunately, the good vibe didn’t seem to last. Despite being a great improvement, the LaTrobe St separated lanes disappear at every intersection – just where they are most needed  – and the Princes Bridge lanes have been watered down to a one-way three-months trial lane. Planned lanes in Elizabeth St, north of Victoria St, have failed to materialise.

Judging from the approved budget and associated capital works, one can only conclude that the determination to make Melbourne truly globally competitive on the sustainable transport scale has faded. Like a procycling sponsor getting back on his feet after being confronted with a positive test of one of his riders, council is looking confused and risk averse with a budget that is less than half of last year’s.

The proposed $2.65M budget for cycling infrastructure will be insufficient to meet even the projects outlined in the Bicycle Plan unless there is a marked increase in future years. And future budget increases seem most unlikely in the current climate of reduced expenditure at all levels of government.  The funds that have been allocated are not being wisely spent with this year's capital works either failing to address high priority issues or being inadequate solutions that will have little positive effect on increasing the cycling population.

The main infrastructure project proposed, William St, is a prime example of an opportunity gone to waste. Surely one could expect a top-of-the-line infrastructure upgrade for a road featuring on the Principal Bike Network and being marked as a Bike Priority Route? Apparently not; instead of physically separated lanes, a few buckets of green paint are supposed to shower that feeling of safety and security upon “riders of all ages and abilities”, as the council's bicycle plan so wonderfully puts it.

The especially sad part is that separated lanes in William St are both feasible and much less intrusive on car space than in other CBD roads, since it is too narrow for two full car lanes anyway. By putting on only green paint, council is falling short of the necessary effort to bring William St up to international best practice. Queensberry St has demonstrated how green paint (and rumble strips) will not keep cars out of the bicycle lane in busy streets with fast moving traffic including trucks like William St. In choosing the cheap and ineffective option, the City of Melbourne is acting like a sprinter who puts his hands in the air to cry victory 100 metres before the finish, only to be beaten on the line.

A second infrastructure project in the budget, the proposed treatment of Neill St (Carlton), is an example of useless spending. Council is proposing to spend $300K to install chevron-separated bike lanes in this quiet residential street, apparently in an attempt to provide a road-based link between the popular Canning St bike lane and others beyond the Carlton Gardens. Instead of riding along Canning St to Carlton St, cyclists are expected instead to embrace the Neill St-Rathdowne St route with 700 metres of painted lanes as their only protection from traffic moving at up to 60 kph and its non-existent protection for northbound access into Neill St. Our alternative for spending the $300K: upgrade the Carlton St / Grattan St intersection to facilitate safe crossing.

Concluding, this budget presents a big risk of City of Melbourne not achieving the goals of its transport strategy, and is sending a bad signal about its commitment to make Melbourne a true cycling city. Rather than making the flow of the 2011 award and Australian tour victory work for them and setting up a long term strategy to get to the top of the general classification of bike friendly cities, they have demonstrated a lack of stamina and endurance to achieve that ambitious goal.

We hope you will make a submission to the Council on this year's budget. To help get you started, we've outlined the BUG's ideas below.

Submissions close at 5pm Friday 7 June. If you want to speak at the meeting to consider the budget on Tuesday 18 June at 5.30pm, you can request to do so in your submission. More information about the budget is here, make a submission here.

Bike budget insufficient to achieve Bicycle Plan

The City of Melbourne has cut its bike budget to $2.55 million (under half of the $5.6 million allocated in the 2012-13 budget). If the City of Melbourne is to become a "cycling city", a far greater budget commitment is required. At this rate, the City will not achieve its Bicycle Plan without significant catch-up in later budgets.

As a capital city council, a destination and thoroughfare for more than 800 000 Victorians daily, the City is more important to Melbourne bike riders than any other council area. Despite this central importance, it remains a more car-dominated, intimidating road environment for cyclists than other inner city councils the City of Moreland, the City of Yarra, or the City of Port Phillip. At the city’s last survey, 50 per cent of cyclists said they felt unsafe riding in the area.

Melbourne BUG recommends that this year’s budget be increased to at least $5.6 million, to match last year’s.

Concerns about proposed bike projects

Aside from the $400 000 for bike parking, Melbourne BUG has concerns about the proposed projects in this year’s budget:

$1.5 million for green paint and rumble strips in William Street

This project is inadequate and locks in failure. Such a busy street needs physically separated lanes. We would prefer that the funds be put aside rather than wasted in this way.

$300 000 for upgraded bike lanes in Neill Street

This is a quiet street with hardly any traffic that does not need any bike lanes. It is also a steep hill (inbound) and outbound it is difficult for bikes to turn right from Rathdowne St, so in both directions it is not the first choice for a bike route. Council is wasting funds on Neill St because of their obsession with keeping bicycles out of the Carlton Gardens.  Paths in the Carlton Gardens are wide and even in the morning peak are mostly very lightly used. There is plenty of space for a bike lane connecting Canning St to the new La Trobe St lanes, which also need to connect to Albert St. Council has no solution for bikes heading to Spring St from Canning St at the moment.

Bike parking

Money is allocated for bike parking, which is great, but there is no way for riders to have input into choice of new locations and the City of Melbourne’s process for determining these is opaque. Melbourne BUG recommends that the City of Melbourne set up a public input process for prioritising new parking.

Consultation

Unlike the 2012-13 budget papers, this year’s Budget and Annual Plan does not include a capital works list. Melbourne BUG obtained this information about the projects from a City of Melbourne press release, indicating that they have already been decided on. Neither Melbourne BUG nor the broader community have been consulted about these projects.

Alternative capital works program

Melbourne BUG has a number of alternative suggestions about how this year’s budget money could be spent. The BUG does not have the resourcing to cost these alternative projects, so we err on the side of suggesting too much. The available budget can then determine what goes into the capital works program.

• A high priority is to bring the Albert St lanes to Spring St and to treat Spring St to join it to LaTrobe St (1 block) with kerbside separated lanes, probably involving a clearway to keep 2 car lanes open, as this will become a bus route very soon.
• Kerbside, separated lanes in William St, preferably from Flinders St to Flemington Rd.
• Join Canning St to Albert St and Spring St. The current shared footpath is dangerous and unpleasant for all users, the intersection with Nicholson and Victoria is a disgrace, and Nicholson St from Victoria St to Bourke St is also very bad.
• Join Port Melbourne and Cecil St lanes to northbank of Yarra by building off-road lanes on the west side of Clarendon St. N.B. both Spencer St and Flinders St are part of the bike network proposed in the Council's long-term bike strategy, they are both part of Vicroads principal bike network and the link along Clarendon St will integrate in the future with these, but in the short term allows access to the Yarra River paths.
• LaTrobe St – Swanston intersection improvement. Two of the most high-profile bike route in Melbourne meet here. Yet the LaTrobe lanes disappear completely going east. Since traffic turning left into Swanston would have only Lt LaTrobe St or A Beckett St to go to, some minor modifications like making Swanston St one-way between A Beckett and LaTrobe could mean a big improvement for bikes while having little effect on other traffic movements.
• Make a start on St Kilda Rd by completing and releasing the draft master plan for St Kilda Rd, and include high quality lanes from Southbank Bvd all the way to St Kilda Junction (which itself needs bike treatment but outside the scope of CoM).
• Investigate safe, separated bike lanes in Flinders St between Spring St and Swanston St. Data shows a high number of bicycle movements there despite the hostile road environment, and observation shows many of these are using the footpath. Building a gantry over the railway void for pedestrians is one alternative that would integrate with any future development of the rail yards air-space.
• High quality lanes in Grattan St, not shared with buses, from Flemington Road to Rathdowne St and with a safe interface into Carlton Street.
• Flemington Rd and Royal Pde need physically separated lanes. Like St Kilda Rd, these are declared (State) roads and Council needs to propose safe treatments for all three wide boulevards, with a view to action in future years.

Update November 1st

Of our new eleven Councillors, ten responded to the BUGs questionnaire summarised below.  Of those ten, five committed to maintaining or increasing this year's budget for bicycle infrastructure ($5M) and to the broad vision for the BUG's proposed works program during the term of the new Council. The remaining five councillors are the Doyle team. So watch this space and be ready to join in and help persuade the City of Melbourne to keep up the momentum for getting more people onto bikes!

Original post October 4th

Melbourne BUG brings you the candidates' views on cycling in the City of Melbourne. Thanks to all the candidates who put in time to answer our questions and best of luck – we look forward to working with all of you in the new Council.

We have summarised each ticket below, starting with the best. You can read the detailed responses as we received them via the link after each summary. The level of support for increasing cycling in the municipality is very high, with most candidates committing to expenditure and progress exceeding that achieved in the current term of Council.

The BUG's suggested projects for the next term are listed at the end of this article. These were used as a guide to candidates, without asking them to endorse the specific roads/routes/treatments as listed but to illustrate the scope of what needs to be achieved. Only major projects have been listed. Candidates were asked if they supported this level of progress.

The Greens

Greens' councillor Cathy Oke has an excellent track record of supporting and seeing through bicycle initiatives in the City of Melbourne. The Greens are the only group with a comprehensive, well thought out policy and their answers to our questionnaire showed a high level of understanding and commitment to what it will take to get (many) more people using a bicycle for transport. The only answer letting The Greens down was their insistence on requiring helmet laws for Melbourne Bikeshare, which is a lost opportunity to get many more people cycling in the City. Read complete answers.

Shanahan-Chamberlin

Questionnaire answers show high level of understanding and commitment on all points, including clear opposition to building the East West tollway, and support for getting Melbourne Bike Share working by removing the helmet requirement. Read complete answers.

Community and Business Leadership

Good support for all our questions. Read complete answers.

Our Melbourne

Our Melbourne agree in general that council should fund and build a bike network along lines suggested by Melbourne BUG. They express qualified support for other objectives, such as speed limits, using some on-street parking space for bike facilities and reservations about the East West Tollway. Read complete answers.

Morgan-Elliot Team

Lead Councillor Jackie Watts supports at least maintaining current funding for bicycle projects and supports the level of progress suggested by Melbourne BUG. She gives qualified support for reallocation of space from cars to bikes, speed limit reductions, and making a better environment in the Little Streets. The East West tollway should only be considered after building the Doncaster rail and Melbourne Metro tunnel. Councillor Watts in her short time on Council has been supportive of bike projects. Read complete answers.

Gary Singer – John So Melbourne Living

Good support for the bike budget and qualified support for general level of progress. Good understanding of the potential of Melbourne's little streets. Support for building the East West tollway as a tunnel. Support for 40km/h speed limits in the CBD but not aware that 30km/h is the evidence-based speed for safety of vulnerable road users where cars, pedestrians and bicycles mix. Qualified support for a helmet law exemption for Melbourne Bike Share. Councillor Ong has had some queries about cyclists during his term on council but has nevertheless been prepared to support the budget and projects throughout and showed an admirable willingness to engage in a constructive dialogue, with good outcomes. Read complete answers.

Team Doyle

As Lord Mayor for the current council, Robert Doyle has been prepared to support the important projects and progress that have taken place over the last few years. In the context of a consensus council, in which no group had a majority, Doyle was prepared to listen and compromise, with good results, even where his own policy directions had to be put aside. Given this election policy and questionnaire responses, we hope for a similar scenario in the new council. This is the only response not to commit to maintaining this year's bike budget in the next term of council. Team Doyle cites the council's Bike Plan as policy, gives qualified support for transfer of road space to bicycles subject to the effect on "existing road users" and supports the East West tollway. Read complete answers.

No response

Of the Lord Mayor candidates, Forward Together and Put Public First did not respond to Melbourne BUG. Of the councillor-only tickets, no response was received from Stephen Mayne and Residents First. You can read candidates' statements at the Victorian Electoral Commission website.

Melbourne BUG's indicative works program

We didn't ask candidates to commit to exactly these projects, just the overall level of progress they represent. Actual routes and treatments need a careful design and consultation process. The important thing is to create a connected network of safe routes that can get you anywhere in the City.

Physically separated lanes

• St Kilda Rd all the way to St Kilda Junction
• Flemington Road
• Royal Parade
• Clarendon St north of Whiteman St, and Spencer St
• Flinders Street
• Albert St completed from Punt Rd to Spring St

On road lanes:

• Upgrades to Footscray Rd and Dynon Rd bike lanes, including better conditions on bridges at Maribyrnong River and Moonee Ponds Creek.
• Spring St or Exhibition St from Flinders to LaTrobe
• Bike lanes from the corner of Spring St and Latrobe St through Carlton Gardens to Canning St, alternatively a safe link from Canning Street to Albert St.
• William St permanent bike lanes
• Grattan St
• Connections from Brunswick St, Napier St, Smith St and Wellington St (Fitzroy & Collingwood) through to Albert St.
• Bike lanes in Wellington Parade (East Melbourne – probable loss of a travel lane both ways or some parking)

While it was a great shame not to have demerit points included, the increase in dooring penalties is an example of what people who care about bike riding, safety and liveable streets, can do when we unite as a group. The media coverage from the dooring inquiry was, in Melbourne at least, in itself a great awareness raising exercise. Thankyou to Greg Barber MLC for introducing the dooring bill that gave rise to the inquiry. Thanks also to everyone who wrote to politicians and papers, made submissions to the inquiry (there were 94!!), came to the Get Pushy rally and attended the hearings. 

The final parliamentary hearing into dooring was standing room only as bike groups like the Amy Gillett Foundation, Bicycle Victoria and community members such as the family of dooring victim James Cross, Andrew Tivendale, ordinary bike riders and friends came to speak and listen, support each other and make their voices heard. The presentation from James Cross' parents, Dr Michael Cross and Dr Nicola Martin, was especially impressive, and we've attached the link in case you want to have a read.

Every so often you get a great leader who makes positive change, but in many cases politicians, especially this government, won't take any action (like for example spending more than $0 on safe bike infrastructure!!) unless pushed. We've noticed bike riders are getting a bit more PUSHY as they see what's possible, and we encourage you to keep telling your stories to politicians, telling them about infrastructure that's unsafe or just ridiculous (get photos and videos), and uniting with bike-minded people and sympathetic friends where you can. Melbourne has the potential to become a real bike city, and if we work together, we can make it happen. It might be an uphill battle, but we're used to that 😉 

In the meantime, keep enjoying those beautiful bike rides.