Page 3387 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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We have also had a trial of bicycle lane markers on the road. A range of devices are being trialled with the aim of improving the safety of on-road bicycle lanes by offering some defined separation from other traffic. Four types of devices are being trialled at five on-road sites across Canberra where the separation between bicycles and motor vehicles could be improved. The different devices, ranging from tactile line marking to raised mountable kerbing, will help identify the edge lines of the cycle lane and adjacent motor vehicle traffic. The trial will run for 12 months, until May 2015.
I turn to way-finding signage. The ACT government has been working to design and install signage to help pedestrians and bicycle riders navigate the off-road path system. We have also had the Canberra centenary trail, a 145-kilometre walking and cycling journey that visits historic and iconic sites around Canberra. There are self-drive heritage trails that promote active travel at schools, and there is Capital Cycling.
As I have outlined for the Assembly today, the ACT government has long recognised the benefits of investing in active transport initiatives. We continue to deliver on our commitments in this key policy area for the benefit of all Canberrans.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (4.00): I welcome this opportunity, and others, to discuss Canberra’s transport needs and to contrast the approach to transport planning of the ACT Labor-Greens government with that of the Liberal opposition. It is interesting that, whenever I move a motion or ask questions about light rail, the government says that we are flogging the issue to death. Yet today, Ms Berry is the one who has raised the issue of transport planning, so obviously there is still more to be said about this subject.
I am proud of the ideas and scrutiny that the opposition has brought to the debate about active transport in Canberra. The opposition is unashamedly pragmatic and practical when it comes to developing transport in Canberra. We will not assess projects based on intangibles and unquantifiable benefits, which this government frequently does. A Liberal government will spend taxpayers’ money on transport initiatives based on evidence, based on research, based on real outcomes. Instead it seems that evidence has no role in transport planning for this Labor government. The only thing that seems to matter is item 2.2 of the Labor-Greens agreement.
Active transport is beneficial to both the user and the broader community. If, by active transport, we are primarily talking about walking or cycling to a destination then there could be no doubt that there are tremendous benefits for all concerned. However, we cannot be clouded in our judgement as to whether any spending on public transport such as light rail, at more than $783 million, is the best use of that money, or even the optimal transport solution.
In fact, if the active travel zone is several kilometres around an employment hub, perhaps the ACT government should be targeting these people, such as people living on the light rail route in the inner north, to be walking or cycling rather than catching a tram.
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