Australian government to fund $100 million national Active Transport FundKey points
Full Release Better Streets welcomes the Australian Government’s announcement of a $100 million national Active Transport Fund. It’s pleasing to see funding to upgrade and deliver new bicycle and walking paths. Investing in active transport is the most effective way to deliver mobility freedom for Australians. Active transport infrastructure provides safe, healthy, enjoyable and convenient options to walk or ride a bicycle, enabling people of all ages to access school, jobs, or services at a low cost. The Better Streets Recommendation #1 to all governments is to get kids active, to encourage 75% of children to walk, cycle, scoot, or take public transport to school everyday, setting them up with healthy habits for life. To make this happen we need investment in bicycle and walking paths, which the announcement provides. Similarly, Recommendation #4 is to make more crossings for people walking, and Recommendation #5 is to build more bicycle routes, directly align with the announcement. Every journey that can be switched to active transport is a win for our environment and a win for our children’s future. Better Streets calls upon each state and territory government to match the federal government’s announcement, dollar for dollar, and to provide stable, continual investment in active transport, which is core to building better streets. Quotes attributable to Sara Stace, President “Better Streets welcomes the Australian Government’s announcement of a $100 million national Active Transport Fund.” “Investing in active transport is a way to deliver mobility freedom for Australians, enabling people of all ages to get around in a low cost manner.” “Better Streets calls upon each state and territory government to match the federal government’s announcement, dollar for dollar, and to provide stable, continual investment in active transport, which is core to building better streets that are safe, healthy, and accessible and enjoyable for all.” About Better Streets Better Streets is the peak body for accelerating the adoption of safe, healthy, people-friendly, climate-friendly streets, right across Australia. Better Streets is a registered charity, run by volunteers, experts, educators, and advocates. Our goal is to educate, connect and empower our coalition of community groups, businesses, decision-makers and individuals to take more effective, scalable action and advocate to improve our streets. https://www.betterstreets.org.au/about-us.html Reference: Australia Government. (7 May 2024). National Active Transport Fund. https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/national-active-transport-fund Download Press Release
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Better Streets welcomes the Transport for NSW Implementation review of the TfNSW Road User Space Allocation policy. In January 2021, when the Road User Space Allocation (RUSA) policy was released, it marked a monumental step in the organisation’s growth in strategic planning. The two-page policy was short, but achieved its purpose in allowing the organisation to have real conversations about Road Space Allocation. The principles of the policy are:
The review found, there have been enormous challenges with actually implementing the policy or holding anyone accountable and seeing changes in projects provisioning for more space for people walking, riding to improve sustainable transport options on our roads. Some of the findings were:
Better Streets encourages Transport for NSW to adopt these recommendations as soon as possible and ensure the transition process is adequately funded and well resourced. This is a massive change management exercise that will require a strong team and committed leadership. We can’t afford to build more road space for private motor vehicle use if we want to live in healthy, sustainable, liveable places. Stronger policies like this RUSA policy (with measurable targets) are required to ensure we build safer, more enjoyable places for people to walk and ride a bicycle, and operate businesses. The recent decision to build a pedestrian bridge over Dobroyd Parade, better known as the CityWest Link (CWL), at the intersection with Waratah Street in Haberfield, is a continuation of the dismantling of an environment conducive to walking and riding, and replacing it with one that is hostile and discouraging where it is most prevalent [1]. While Transport for NSW (TfNSW) claims the bridge prioritises a “safer crossing for pedestrians”, there is a question as to whose interests it really serves. Presently the intersection supports motor vehicles travelling into and out of Haberfield using the CWL. The pedestrian crossing at the Waratah Street intersection is a critical connection to Timbrell Park for Haberfield and North Ashfield residents. Timbrell Park is an extensive and popular recreational area supporting a flagship Livvi’s Place Playground and Cafe (designed based on Inclusive Play principles) [3], running, cycling and BMX tracks, numerous sporting fields and a focal point for active and passive recreation such as dog walking and yoga/ pilates. The final bridge design will provide access via stairs and a lift at each end. There will be no ramps, requiring all those who cannot negotiate two sets of stairs to rely on a lift that may or may not be functioning. While traffic lights will remain to govern the flow of cars, ground access to the crossing will be denied to people walking and riding, with their way to be blocked with fences and concrete barriers. Community engagement with the proposal reflected concern at the extent to which the removal of the at-grade crossing would discourage and exclude people who wanted to walk, ride or roll to the park. There is a body of research supporting this concern. Solioz and Lopez [4] have noted: If a [pedestrian bridge] is not universally accessible, convenient and well-utilized by a diversity of active travelers, then it might be better described as a disabling apparatus, a monument of immobility or an anti-pedestrian bridge. The Inner West Council initially argued for the crossing to be retained at-grade with a single phase, while the Haberfield Association found that TfNSW had no interest in remedying its own experience of unsafe driving behaviour. Despite abundant traffic cameras, they are only for flow management rather than enforcement of dangerous driving. It became apparent that giving over the space entirely to cars was more the priority. [5] In this way the community itself arrived at the conclusions of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) [6], …by displacing people, pedestrian bridges simply reinforce the dominion of vehicles over people on the streets. Pedestrian bridges discourage walking and cycling and exacerbate poor road safety for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike. Separating people from the street reinforces the prioritization of personal motor vehicles, while encouraging speeding, driver negligence, and traffic fatalities. The millions of dollars that this bridge, (estimated cost $9 million [6]) will cost could be better used to build better connections for people walking and riding bicycles in the neighbourhood. [1] WalkSydney, 2024. WalkSydney’s submission to the current Parliamentary Inquiry into the Impact of the Rozelle Interchange )
[2] For more information on Livvi’s Place playgrounds see https://www.touchedbyolivia.com.au/ [3]Soliz, Aryana & Pérez López, Ruth. (2022). ‘Footbridges’: pedestrian infrastructure or urban barrier?. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 55. 101161. 10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101161. (PDF) ‘Footbridges’: pedestrian infrastructure or urban barrier? [4] The Haberfield Association. (2023). https://haberfield.asn.au/cwl-waratah-st-bridge-habas-submission/ [5] Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. (2024). Pedestrian Bridges make cities less walkable why do cities keep building them? https://www.itdp.org/2024/02/29/pedestrian-bridges-make-cities-less-walkable-why-do-cities-keep-building-them/ [6] Compared to the (shorter) Heathcote pedestrian bridge at Princes Highway which is reported to have cost $5.5 million in 2014, an estimated cost for the Haberfield bridge (+32% as per the relevant ABS cost index and an additional margin to account for the longer bridge) is around $9 million. Town Team Movement, in partnership with the Western Australia State Government, Main Roads Western Australia and the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA), have launched the new Streets Alive program. The program provides $5 million over 5 years for capacity building and support for eligible community organisations and local governments for projects designed to calm traffic on local roads in urban areas across Western Australia.
If you're in Western Australia, you can register your Project Idea now! The first step offers potential ‘seed’ grants of up to $5,000 incl. GST in all towns and neighbourhoods across WA for eligible community groups. The project ideas can include traffic calming initiatives and community-led activations, such as: road murals, active transport infrastructure, street furniture, parklets, planter boxes, community gardens, street art, pop-up libraries and street parties. Future funding rounds will assist larger projects. Find out more by clicking here. How’s it going advocating for better transport and places?
Advocating for better walking spaces, bike friendly routes and great places to hang out in can be draining, frustrating – and challenging! It’s a long game. Downheartedness can infect other areas of your life despite your best intentions to be upbeat. Do you want to smell the roses again? Feel less tired? More optimistic when you read emails? Hear yourself be more positive in your conversations? Feel that life has a fresher flavour? It’s possible. A daily mindfulness practice can help support you to bounce back more easily. There are decades of high-quality research into the psychological benefits of mindfulness even in very challenging circumstances. Here’s what’s on offer. A weekly mindfulness class with a short inspiring talk, a guided mindfulness sit and easy ways to start a daily mindfulness practice to continue when the course ends. There’ll be an opportunity to stay online after each session to chat with others in advocacy. Registration details: The class is online. Register here for the meeting details link (you’ll need a Google account). When? Six Wednesdays on 5, 12, 19, 26 June, 3, 10 July 2024 at 6.30 - 7:30 pm Brisbane time (AEST) for an hour with an optional 30 mins to connect with others in transport advocacy and ask questions. What do you need? You don’t need to have experience. Just bring an open-mind and enough video bandwidth to see each other. This is a course requirement for a 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and if you find it supports you and buffers against burnout, we'll continue. Who’ll be guiding you? Wendy Nash has a diploma of Insight & Compassion Meditation Teaching, a Somatic Psychotherapy Diploma and a Bachelor of Psychology (Hons). Her honours research project studied the effect of loving-kindness practices on kindness towards others. She’s practised mindfulness for over 20 years with internationally renowned teachers in Australia, Europe and North America and her approach is to make mindfulness easy to apply in daily life. Full Disclosure: This is a course requirement for a 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program for Wendy. Wendy started Get Around Cabo Carfree because the public and active transport options in Caboolture, South East Queensland, usually led to lots of swearing about the transport situation. Her long-standing mindfulness practice helps her keep sane and she hopes others will find it equally beneficial. Please feel welcome to ask any questions to hello@GetAroundCaboCarfree.com.au and invite others who might be interested. Pedalling Progress: Resilience and Innovation at the 2WalkAndCycle Conference in Wellington4/4/2024 If you haven’t been to Wellington, New Zealand, in the past few years, I highly recommend visiting to see the transformation the city has undergone. Everywhere you go you see all sorts of people zipping around on a bicycle or a cargo bike, there are connected cycleways forming a network and more in construction to be delivered within the financial year. Last month Sara Stace (WSP and Better Streets president) and I, Jullietta Jung (GDCI and Better Streets board member), were in Wellington to present at the 2024 2WalkAndCycle conference and heard from Wellington City Council’s transitional team lead Claire Pascoe and engagement manager Oli du Bern talk about the (stormy) journey that they went through to achieve the rapid roll out. They spoke of a “trust fund” they decided to invest in. They decided they needed to invest in building trust with the community, leadership and industry if they were to deliver 100 kms of cycleways in 3 years. They invested and reaped the returns. The invested in iterative designs processes with community engagement and adaptive implementation through consultation. If the Wellington story wasn’t enough, the conference gathered minds from around the country doing impactful projects in the community. Seeing the representation of Māori people in projects, leading projects, and several projects that featured youth engagement was another stand out of the conference.
Then if that wasn’t enough the conference featured two internationally acclaimed keynote speakers Janette Sadik Khan (former transport commissioner of New York City, famous for transforming Time Square and Broadway to people friendly places, read her book Street Fight) and Salvador Rueda (Barcelona’s Superblocks, watch how you can transform your neighbourhood with a line). Their stories of the transformational projects that they have led over the years drew whistles from the crowd and were hugely energising. These inspiring stories are even more celebrated as the crowd needed hope. In the backdrop of the conference there is a draft Government Policy Statement that halves the budget for walking and cycling, gone are the days of unfettered support for initiatives like Streets for People. Paradoxically, it may be precisely this adversity that seemed to fuel the energy of the crowd. Listen to Janette Sadik-Khan tell the New York CIty story in Auckland here. Upcoming Project: Help Austroads develop useful guidance to support safe active travel to school1/4/2024 Austroads is currently developing best practice guidance to support safe active travel to and from school. The guidance is planned for people involved in the management of transport infrastructure and programs that relate to school travel, including road managers, transport planners and engineers.
Austroads is looking for people to help develop useful guidance by sharing their subject-matter experience. This includes:
National Ride to School Day, on the 22nd of March 2024, is a fun way to raise awareness of the benefits of riding, walking and scooting – collectively known as ‘active transport’- to school. It is a day when the school community can come together to promote the joys and benefits of active travel to school. It is also a great way to kick start positive habits for the year ahead, but also longer term into adulthood, that benefit personal health, the environment, and even learning. We suggest some steps to take if you are keen to make a Ride to School Day happen at your school but don’t know where to begin. Remember:
Ride2School Day is about more than just getting to school on two wheels. It's about building a healthier, happier community, one ride at a time. Getting started: Key tips The following tips are designed to get you started. Please also check the great Bicycle Network's resources to assist with organising your own ride to school day. If you are in NSW please also sign up to the Bicycle NSW page to find out what is happening locally and let us know where you are in terms of promoting active travel at your school Tips are divided into NOW, A WEEK BEFORE, ON THE DAY and AFTER. NOW 1. Do some quick research and find a couple of supporters before you start
3. Pick a date and get it in the school calendar:
5. Rally the troops
Optional: Seek sponsorship
Spread the word
Optional - Extra promotion
THE WEEK BEFORE 9. Visibility
ON THE DAY
13. Early Setup
Optional: Reward Participants
AFTER THE EVENT 16. Share Results
Additional Resources:
Better Streets will speaking at a a panel discussion at the Wurridjal Festival.
Where: Hurlstone Memorial Reserve Community Centre in Hurlstone Park, NSW When: Thursday March 28, 6-8pm Panel Discussion Topic: Human health and river health - How do they come together on the Cooks River? How is the health of the Cooks River and the health of the communities linked? What does it mean to have a healthy urban river and a healthy community? The river connects to the streets of our neighborhoods. The rainwater connects the river to the bay. We connect to each other along the shared river path. How do we rethink these vital connections to green and 'blue' public spaces, to ensure a healthier city and river? This discussion forms part of the Wurridjal Festival. This celebration of strong communities and ecologies along the Cooks River, held between 14 March and 7 April, features over 30 free events including walks, clean-ups, bushcare and cycling. The Festival aims to reconnect communities with First Nations knowledge and care for Country by marking the start of a season when mullet (‘wurridjal’ in the Aboriginal languages of the Sydney region) enter the Cooks River during their pre-spawning migration along Australia’s east coast. Guests: Jennifer Newman (Wiradjuri woman, Cooks River Valley Association), will be joined by Dr Megan Sharkey from Better Streets, Kiran Kashyap from Regen Sydney and Dr Andrew Thomas from the Cooks River Alliance, to discuss the Cooks River, as an active transport corridor, animal habitat and public space. We also extend our heartfelt gratitude to Monique Ewan our part-time Executive Officer, who will be stepping down on 12 March to pursue other ventures. Monique’s unwavering commitment and contributions have been pivotal to our administration, volunteer engagement, events, and more. We cannot thank her enough for her invaluable service.
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