The National Cycling Strategy 2011-16 was approved by Ministers in November 2010. The Strategy aims to double the number of people cycling in Australia by 2016. This is Australia’s third National Cycling Strategy (NCS). Since the frst strategy, which was introduced in 1999, the Australian Bicycle Council has played a role in coordinating, implementing and reporting on the strategy. The Strategy has six key priorities and objectives. Cycling promotion: promote cycling as both a viable and safe mode of transport and an enjoyable recreational activity. Infrastructure and facilities: create a comprehensive and continuous network of safe and attractive bicycle routes and end-of-trip facilities. Integrated planning: consider and address cycling needs in all relevant transport and land use planning activities. Safety: enable people to cycle safely. Monitoring and evaluation: improve monitoring and evaluation of cycling programs and develop a national decision-making process for investment in cycling. Guidance and best practice: support the development of nationally-consistent guidance for stakeholders to use and share best practice across jurisdictions. This report provides an overview of progress made in 2015 towards the objectives of the National Cycling Strategy 2011-16 (NCS). State and Territory Governments are increasingly leveraging the benefits of walking and cycling to create more liveable cities. This approach improves the health of residents and boosts economic activity through reduced congestion and increased business productivity. The National Cycling Strategy Implementation Report provides an annual update on work that has progressed on cycling-related policy and programs in Australia. This report is the fifth Implementation Report for the current strategy. The National Cycling Strategy finishes at the end of 2016 and there are no plans to develop a future strategy for cycling in Australia. In 2015, State and Territory Governments spent $1.8 million on cycling promotion and a further $123.6 million on improving on-road and o?-road cycling networks to key destinations in both urban and rural areas. State and Territory cycling promotion included programs that encourage cycling for short trips, recreational cycling and cycling to work. Programs that encouraged short trips include Good Move (NSW), Ride2School (Vic, Tas), TravelSMART(SA), way2go (SA), Your Move (WA), Safe Active Streets (WA), Short Trips are Bikeable (NT) and Active Streets (ACT). Programs that encouraged recreational cycling included event sponsorship, trail development and the promotion of mountain biking. Programs that encouraged cycling to work included the Sydney Rides Business Challenge, bicycle parking requirements and the provision of bicycle fleets. The importance of cycling to the community can be seen in the strong response received during community consultation on cycling issues. For example, the recent Review of Victorian Cycling Related Road Rules & Legislation received over 10,500 submissions. Planning for cycling continues to be integrated into wider government policy, with both walking and cycling forming key components in land use plans such as the Darwin Inner Suburbs Area Plans and Darwin Regional Land Use Plan. In 2015, Victoria and the ACT formed offices with resources dedicated to delivering improvements to the walking and cycling environment. Over the life of the current National Cycling Strategy, there has been a focus on the laws that govern cycling and their role in improving safety and/or encouraging cycling. A number of jurisdictions have relaxed regulations that govern where cycling is permitted. Cycling is now permitted on footpaths in Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT. The ACT has also improved the consistency of rules governing footpath cycling by allowing riders to use pedestrian crossings at no more than 10 km/h. A number of jurisdictions have considered relaxing Australia’s mandatory helmet laws. The Northern Territory has already relaxed their mandatory helmet laws. Queensland’s recent parliamentary inquiry recommended a relaxation of the mandatory helmet law. The ACT has announced that they will investigate risks and any potential benefits of allowing people to ride bicycles without a helmet in low speed environments. A number of jurisdictions have introduced minimum passing distance legislation that requires drivers to provide a lateral distance of at least 1m (up to 60 km/h) and 1.5m (over 60 km/h) between their vehicle and a cyclist. Drivers in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT are now required to comply with minimum passing distance laws. Although Tasmania has not changed its legislation, it uses advisory signs and advertising to deliver the same message. A number of jurisdictions have increased the fines that apply to bicycle riders in line with the fines that apply to drivers for similar offenses. Recent changes in NSW have seen increases in bicycle-related fines of up to 500%. The third National Cycling Participation Survey was carried out in 2015, with the results indicating that cycling participation has not increased or decreased significantly over the life of the current National Cycling Strategy. These results do not meet the target set in the National Cycling Strategy to double cycling participation over the life of the Strategy. Guidance and best practice has been improved through the work of Austroads and each jurisdiction. An Austroads project on bicycle wayfinding guidance harmonised an area that has threatened to become fractured across jurisdictions. Recent work on protected bicycle facility guidance from jurisdictions highlights the need for nationally-consistent guidance in this area. The release of a new Australian Standard on Bicycle Parking Facilities spurred a set of work to ensure that related guidance is up to date and relevant to the new Standard. The Australian bicycle planning practitioner community continues to build capability with several major conferences being held across Australia in 2015. These include the Asia Pacific Cycle Congress in Brisbane, Australian Cycling Summit in Canberra, Cycling Imagineering Workshop in Perth and Bike Futures conferences in Sydney, Melbourne and Launceston. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting