HEALTHY TRANSPORT HOBART

On the afternoon of Wednesday 24 June 2009, a squad of young police officers from the Public Order Response Team were called to the corner of Argyle and Brisbane Streets in inner suburban Hobart.

A member of the public, 20-year-old nursing student Katie Kingshott from Healthy Transport Hobart, was also in attendance.
These young persons then mounted their bicycles and proceeded in a northerly direction up Argyle Street. An employee of Hobart City Council proceeded in an orderly fashion alongside the cyclists in a motor vehicle.

All persons of interest wore appropriate clothing as prescribed by law, namely bike helmets in the case of the cyclists.

The council engineer was not required to wear protective head gear but he was required to have his seat belt done up, and he did.

All vehicles were in good order, all laws were observed, all parties proceeded in orderly fashion and nobody got hurt.

A number of witnesses observed the incident, including a contingent of Tasmanian media and senior Tasmania Police Officers.

The purpose of the proceedings was to demonstrate the proper and lawful use of the new bicycle lanes in Argyle and Campbell Streets.

The lanes are painted in a vivid green and are bounded by thick white double lines marked into chevron shapes.

The green bits will be the exclusive domain of cyclists.

Motorists are only allowed to cross over the double white lines either to get to a parking spot or to turn into a driveway or laneway, but they have to give way to cyclists.

At intersections the green lanes expand to form ‘storage boxes’ in which cyclists can wait at the head of the traffic queue, in the clear air away from exhaust fumes.

A member of the media contingent, Annie Warburton from ABC Radio, took witness statements from Inspector Stuart Scott and Katie Kingshott.

You can listen to their evidence right ‘ere.

Then, on your bike, sunshine!

A few members of Health Transport Hobart have been riding the lanes daily and have been impressed by the use they are getting despite the weather being very wintery. Highlights have been dads taking kids to primary school on the back of bikes, mums riding their children into the CBD on tandems to catch the bus and a bloke carrying a 20kg sack of flour on his back rack up Argyle St.