The current Draft Bicycle Strategy recently released by Council proposes to spend $2.4 million over the next few years. Whilst well written, the recommendations are extravagant, piecemeal and unjustifiable. .  A thorough debate of the proposals must occur. Other considerations and priorities must also be examined, especially in light of a scarce Glen Eira budget and heavy borrowings. Any bicycle strategy must be viewed in the broadest context. The issue isn’t solely about bikes – it’s about Sustainable Transport as a whole. Cycling is only a very small part of a much larger issue and problem.

Here are the facts taken straight from the draft report and from enumerated ABS statistics of the 2001 and 2006 Census. Things to note are:

  •  An expected increase in cyclists of only 500 in the next 5 years
  • The heavy reliance on both private cars and trains
  • Cycling is only the 8th most popular activity in Glen Eira parks – walking the most popular

 The most telling statistics however are listed below:

On Road Traffic Year 2001 Year 2006 % Increase % Total Current % Total Overall
Private-Car/Taxi 35,542 36,531 2.60 93.01 73.56
Private-Bikes 740 1,009 0.71 2.57  
Private-Trucks 420 309 -0.29 0.79  
Public-Tram/Bus 1,317 1,429 0.29 3.64  
Total 38,019 39,278 3.31 100.00 79.10
Off Road Traffic Year 2001 Year 2006 % Increase % Total Current  
Private-Bicycles Not Available Not Available      
Walks 1,083 1,438 4.07 13.85  
Public-Train 7,645 8,943 14.87 86.15 18.01
Total 8,728 10,381 18.94 100.00 20.90
Overall Total 46,747 49,659 6.23   100.00
Population 118,138 123,047 4.16    

The other data of interest are key On Road results:

  • About 16% cyclists go to work within Glen Eira;
  • About 23% of Glen Eira cyclists go to Melbourne to work, but none are coming to Glen Eira;
  • About 65% go to surrounding Councils or further;
  • Only 19% cyclists from other Councils come to Glen Eira to work.

 

So what does this all mean?

Ratepayer and taxpayer dollars, in this case $2.4m, must have benefits that are worthwhile and seen to be worthwhile. The key benefits of cycling are in terms of environment i.e. reduction in carbon pollution, and health of cyclists. Let’s examine those 2 benefits in light of the figures provided. The fundamental basis for comparisons must be the increase of population, which for the statistical period covered was 4.16% i.e. 5,000 additional souls.

 The on road bike increase (which includes motorcycles) is very small, just 0.7% with 250 more bikers. Say we double the increase of cyclists on the road for the next 10 years, which will cost nearly $500 per year per additional cyclist. This seems extravagant. Will it reduce carbon pollution in Glen Eira? NO. Not unless there is a decrease of cars on the road. The increase of cars on the road was 4 times greater than the increase of cyclists. Will the expense improve health of cyclists? Probably, but $240k per year expenditure can be used in many ways to improve both environment and the health of more than just 500 people. It is clear that there is no pre-condition in Glen Eira to have such a large expenditure for on the road cycling.

 The outstanding result is the increase in Public Train patronage by nearly 15%. That contributes to reduced environment pollution and health of those using Public Transport. Unfortunately, even here the overall impact is not encouraging. The train benefits are mainly due to its off road advantages. The off-road traffic is only about 21%, whereas the on-road (mainly cars) is 79%. And the increase of train patronage is only slightly better than car increase. As long as there is an increase of cars on the roads the net benefit on environment and health will be negative.

 Can Governments, particularly Glen Eira do something about the critical issue of cars on the roads? Let’s assume that we spend an equivalent $500 per additional person per year on improving environment and health. That amounts to $25 million just for Glen Eira. With 30 Councils in the metropolitan area that becomes a substantial sum. Regardless of the money available, the focus for measurably reducing the carbon pollution and improving health requires reducing on road traffic and pollution, increasing off-road traffic and actively shifting On-Road traffic to Off-Road traffic. Does the strategy address any of these issues? NO!

 And how do you see this transport issue and how would you spend $500 per person per year in Glen Eira to improve environment and health?

 Over to you.

Should Glen Eira Council establish a Sustainable Transport Strategy before or after spending money on bicycle road lanes?online survey