Thursday, 29 August 2024

Transport infrastructure

Tim READ (Brunswick) (17:20): (817) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Public and Active Transport, and the action I seek is that the minister join with me and with bike riders from Brunswick and beyond on a ride from the State Library up Sydney Road on 26 September. Critical Mass is a community-led bike protest calling for better infrastructure for cyclists and other active transport and mobility aid users. Together we will ride as a group, forming a critical mass. This will be one of the only times that many Brunswick cyclists ride on Sydney Road, and for others it will be the safest they feel in doing so, because as it stands riding on Sydney Road is risky, which is why I invite the Minister for Public and Active Transport to join the ride and see for herself what this community needs.

The benefits of bike riding and active transport are well known to many, not least to the minister for active transport herself, I am sure. Besides being a great way to get some exercise on the way to your next destination, bikes reduce traffic congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions by reducing the number of cars on the road. Study after study shows that when you make more space for bikes local businesses get a sales boost. Better bike infrastructure is a worthwhile investment for any government, because a lot of people will not ride if it is not safe. Riders on Sydney Road run the gauntlet of car doors opening and cars turning or pulling in and out of car parks. At peak hour riders are forced onto the rough, potholed edges of lanes designed for cars and most dare not bring their children along as it is simply not safe.

Bisecting Brunswick, Sydney Road contains many of our most used shops, and the excessive car traffic and parking acts as a barrier to active transport in our congested neighbourhood. Footpaths are narrow. The bike lanes, which were repainted after a bike rider was killed almost a decade ago, are mostly obscured by parked cars and are so narrow that the government may as well have painted the words ‘thoughts and prayers’. It is great that we have a minister for active transport, and I would be keen to get her views on how we can fix not only Sydney Road but dangerous bike routes across the state. Perhaps these safety concerns do not make for the most compelling invitation. However, I urge the minister not to worry, as the Brunswick community is offering us a unique opportunity to ride down Sydney Road and observe its shortcomings in the safety of a critical mass. I do hope to see the minister there.