HEALTHY TRANSPORT HOBART

I recently headed up to Burnie on the North West Coast of Tasmania and walked along the first couple of kilometres of the new shared cycling and walking track. This is a product of the federal infrastructure stimulus dollars negotiated by Christine Milne in 2009 and shows what can be done even when demand may not be as high as in a city like Hobart when plans have been drawn up and are ready to go.

“This project will construct a shared cycling and walking pathway along the coastal strip from the Emu River at Wivenhoe through to Cooee, and form part of the greater coastal pathway across the north-west coast of Tasmania”. Read the rest of this entry »

I drove out through Brighton the other day and saw the boys and their toys in full swing as the $150 Million brighton bypass surges ahead. The Kingston Bypass has also begun with the final plans still omitting basic provision for on road bicycle movement despite a steady push by the Kingborough Bicycle Users group during the planning phase. What strikes me with these projects is the earth moving interests that must get millions of dollars worth of contracts out of each project. It would take a lot to convince me that they do not form part of lobby groups pushing the government to prioritise such expensive projects to save a few minutes here and there. Now while it might be on a smaller scale, I think we need to get the guys with smaller machines and and more of an obsession with human scale to jump on the lobby bandwagon for increased bicycle infrastructure. If their are plenty of jobs at stake then perhaps the boys and their toys will come to the party. Read the rest of this entry »

While procrastinating from studying, I came across this internet article about cyclists and bus-driver relations in Wellington, NZ. Apparently, a group of cyclists and bus-drivers swapped tyres for a day, in an attempt to improve bike-bus relation. The initiative was developed after a number of filed and many more anecdotal reports of bus-bike clashes (generally resulting in cyclist-injury) in the city, in order to increase appreciation both ‘drivers’ had for each other.

role reversal

The article states that both drivers and riders increased their empathy for the task the other does throughout the activity, and vowed to be more proactive in fostering good relations between the two forms of sustainable and useful transport.

Click on: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3765320/Cyclists-and-bus-drivers-put-boot-on-the-other-foot to find out more. Read the rest of this entry »