Climate Action Merri-bek is supporting a campaign to get the Victorian government to spend 5% of its transport budget on strategic cycling corridors.

Transport accounts for 25% of Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Victorian government estimates that 1.2 million private vehicle trips per day need to be shifted to walking or riding to achieve their goal of 25% of all trips made by active transport by 2030. This should be achievable as most car trips in Victoria are less than 5kms and around 75% of Victorians say they’d like to make more trips by bike[i].  But what would it take for Victorians to get on their bikes?

Overwhelmingly people say they need safe, connected routes before they, and their families, will use a bike to get around. Strategic Cycling Corridors (SCCs) are Victoria’s plan for a network of safe bike routes across Melbourne and regional centres. But only a fraction have been built.

Climate Action Merri-bek, Merri-bek BUG and almost thirty other community groups across Victoria with an interest in active and sustainable transport are joining with Bicycle Network to ask for 5% of the Transport budget in Victoria to be spent on Strategic Cycling Corridors. A dedicated funding stream over and above what is currently spent on active transport would give Victorians the confidence to know when these corridors will be built — and finally get those bikes out of the shed.

We’ve seen local examples in Merri-bek, like the Craigieburn Express started in 2014, languishing for over ten years thanks in part to lack of funding. While Council budgets can cover portions of the cost of the SCC network, they rely on state government funding and endless rounds of grant applications for the rest. 

A dedicated funding  stream would support the roadmap provided in Victoria’s Active Transport Plan 2026 to achieve the government’s target of 25% of all trips being active by 2030.

Take a look at the 5% for Strategic Cycling Corridors campaign page.  Enter your address and take a look at what’s been planned in your electorate, what’s actually been built and then send an email to your local MP asking them to get on board! 

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References

[i] Pearson, et al. (2022) The potential for bike riding across entire cities Quantifying spatial variation in interest in bike riding, Journal of Transport & Health vol. 24, Mar 2022 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140521003200