Page 3386 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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Street stages is underway, and completion is due by 2015. The Bunda Street section will be a share-way for bicycles, pedestrians and motor vehicles.
Another initiative is measuring walkability to Canberra’s bus stops. In 2013 the ACT government completed a mapping project to measure the walking distance and travel time to every Canberra bus stop to inform prioritisation of bus routes and connections.
Let me go to the age-friendly neighbourhoods initiative. In TAMS, Roads ACT has been allocated up to $500,000 over the next few years to implement the age-friendly suburbs project on a pilot basis to demonstrate how targeted investment in infrastructure could support physical activity and wellbeing for an ageing Canberra population.
Investing in Canberra’s walking and cycling paths is another fantastic highlight. In 2013-14 over $4.5 million of new walking and cycling programs and infrastructure was delivered by TAMS within the Environment and Planning Directorate. This constitutes around $11.75 per person in the ACT. Projects include feasibility studies such as the Molonglo to city cycleway, with $900,000; forward design of walking and cycling projects such as the Civic cycle loop, $773,000; construction of cycle facilities such as the Yamba Drive shared path and the Civic cycle loop, $1,750,000; and upgrades to existing walking and cycling infrastructure as part of capital upgrade programs, $1,100,000.
Let me turn to end-of-trip facilities. Providing adequate facilities at destinations such as workplaces and tertiary education institutions also influences people’s likelihood of riding, jogging or walking. Recognising that quality end-of-trip facilities will help to encourage more ACT public service staff to walk and cycle to work, the ACT government has engaged Pedal Power to assess end-of-trip facilities such as bicycle parking, showers, lockers and change rooms at selected ACT public service buildings. The assessment will include a staff survey and a building facilities assessment conducted by qualified Pedal Power assessors. Pedal Power will develop a report for each site, outlining key aspects of the building’s end-of-trip facilities, and provide recommendations on where improvements can be made.
Another highlight is the bike-and-ride facilities. The attraction of cycling to public transport instead of driving is being further enhanced through the government’s investment in facilities aimed at making bike and ride a convenient choice for users. The government has allocated more than $4 million over four years from 2010-11 to expand the network of park-and-ride and bike-and-ride facilities, with a focus on the existing rapid and frequent bus services. This has included the construction of bike cages at important hubs and locations, including facilities at the Belconnen community station, Flemington Road at Harrison, Athllon Drive at Mawson, and Melrose Drive at Lyons.
I turn to bike racks on buses. Over 80 per cent of ACTION buses in the ACT are fitted with bike racks. It is the most extensive network of bicycle rack enabled bus routes in Australia. Customers can ride to a bus stop that may be a bit far to walk to, hop on a bus with their bike, and then finish their journey by bicycle.
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