Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Economy and Infrastructure Committee

Inquiry into the Impact of Road Safety Behaviours on Vulnerable Road Users

John LISTER (Werribee) (10:32): I rise today to talk about the committee report into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road users. To continue on from some of the contribution from the member for Tarneit, I would like to thank the chair of that committee the member for Bellarine, and the committee, including our western suburbs representative on the committee, the member for Tarneit, for producing a comprehensive report with over 60 findings and over 50 recommendations. It is really important. Taking this finer-grain view of how behaviours changed following the pandemic, and particularly around some of the restrictions around travel, this report set out to explore road users behaviour during and after the pandemic and the impact on the safety of vulnerable road users. In going through this report and reflecting on some of the findings, one particular finding that I found quite pertinent to the Werribee electorate is finding 2, which is looking at how:

Restrictions placed during the COVID-19 pandemic created new travel patterns that affected how Victorians used the road during lockdowns and beyond, specifically lower public transport patronage, a preference for travelling by car, greater walking and bike riding …

And:

These patterns are likely to continue …

In reading this finding I was transported back to the halcyon by-election days of walking around different parts of my electorate and talking to people in some of the newer estates around the electorate of Werribee. You would go there at lunchtime or at 1 o’clock and not expect to find anyone at home, but actually there were a lot of people who were working from home. They are either running their own businesses or they are working remotely, and this allows for that flexibility. It means that they are travelling at different times of day, and this is something that we are particularly aware of in the Werribee electorate around some of the pressures around local congestion in Werribee.

One thing that the findings was that there was more of a turn to active transport and more people using things like pop-up bike infrastructure. Wyndham City Council led the way with that during the pandemic, where they built these paths through to the river walk, the river trail and the Federation Trail along existing roads to help provide safer access options for people as we saw more people choosing to ride and walk. They have had limited long-term results, and I look forward to working with council on other options that we can have in that space.

Another thing that I observed in their findings was that more parents were transporting their children to and from school by car during the pandemic. We are seeing that behaviour changing now, though. I reflect on some of the emails I have received from parents in the Riverwalk estate. They have come to me saying that we need an increase in Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) provided school buses. I thank the minister and her office for some of the work that she has been doing with me on that access, including a survey for school families to be able to fill in to find out what that demand is and adding an extra bus to that Riverwalk route last year.

In concluding my remarks and echoing some of the things that the member for Tarneit said, we have found that those patterns have changed in the way that people are travelling, particularly using our roads in Wyndham. Local congestion is a big factor in Wyndham. It is something that I am very, very aware of as a user of those roads. We know those usage patterns are changing, so that is why it is important that we are building things like our Ison Road link and we are improving traffic flow along Ballan Road.

I also thank the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and her office for their great work in arranging a briefing for me today with the director for the metro region from DTP to be able to go through some of these issues more specifically.

I think the great thing about this committee report is that it shows that we need to now be aware of local traffic patterns and that people are not necessarily commuting like they were. That is why it is important to look at our local roads and how we are going to bust that local congestion.

I also just want to follow on from what the member for Tarneit said – a little observation made at the fire brigade the other night. We have one of those road traffic safety cameras that can monitor if you are on your phone. A few people had noticed it and said, ‘It prompted me to change what I was doing. I wasn’t picking up my phone while I was driving.’ So it is an excellent thing, and I look forward to seeing more of them.