Why the critics are wrong on cycle lanes

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This was published 12 years ago

Why the critics are wrong on cycle lanes

By Clover Moore

NSW has been in a holding pattern because big policy and leadership has steadily deteriorated. There has been little interest in long-term planning, no vision or investment in our future, and no action that would step on the toes of vested interests, or anger the shock jocks.

Our state is lagging in effective action on global warming, there has been a lack of decisiveness on land-use planning, and a backlog of vital infrastructure needed for Sydney's effective functioning and competitiveness. It is time for leadership, vision and long-term planning.

It is important to give people who live close to the city options for shorter trips.

It is important to give people who live close to the city options for shorter trips.

''Vision'' has become one of those weasel words that the writer Don Watson damns so thoroughly. It has been reduced to the depth and complexity of a cereal packet blurb: ''Our vision for your breakfast . . .''

But it is time we reclaimed the meaning of vision - as responsiveness, foresight, imagination, courage and action - and put it to work for our city, our state and our society.

The late George Clarke prepared the 1969 strategic plan for Sydney. It had four objectives: to improve the city's management, accessibility, diversity and environment.

One of its early achievements was the creation of Martin Place from a series of city blocks, lined with handsome buildings but acting chiefly as a traffic funnel to a sunlit space for people to congregate. Naturally, he was howled at: this would make traffic and commerce and the business of the city impossible, the critics said.

His belief that people had a right to help shape the future of their city is one that I share, and it informed every stage of the development of our Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan.

Our goal is to produce 100 per cent of Sydney's energy needs locally by 2030 - which is not really so new, since cities as diverse as Copenhagen, Seoul and New York have extensive district energy, heating and cooling systems.

In the CBD there are nearly 100,000 car trips and 6000 bus movements each weekday. Cheap, reliable public transport frees up limited road space for people who need to drive. To stop Sydney grinding to a halt, we need investment in light rail, heavy rail, cycling and walking.

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It is important to give people who live close to the city options for shorter trips, and that is why the city is building a 200-kilometre cycleway network.

As Clarke found when he set about creating Martin Place, critics say our cycleways are the cause of the congestion - even though they are being built without the removal of any lanes of traffic, even though bikes have outsold cars for the past decade and even though 85 per cent of people told us they would start riding if we built separated cycleways.

We know cycling is not for everyone, but more people are getting on a bike, and we need to make it safe and viable for those who do. The network is not finished yet but the moment we finish a link, people start using it. Over the past year the number of bike trips has doubled, and on some links tripled.

We continue to press the federal government for funds to create an inner-city regional cycle network, covering 15 inner local government areas. Independent research shows it would deliver at least $506 million in net economic benefits over 30 years - roughly equivalent to a $4 return on every dollar spent. If we achieve our 10 per cent cycling target (presently just 1 per cent of trips are by bike), the network could reduce traffic by 4.3 million car trips a year.

The work we did for Sustainable Sydney 2030 was thorough and founded on the best advice available from local and international experts. It has provided us with a vision for the city that is inspiring action - whether it is with other levels of government or with the private sector.

Sydney needs not just the imagination to envision the kind of city we want, but also the continued innovation to develop the projects to achieve it, and the political will to put those plans into action.

This is an edited extract of the second Utzon Lecture, to be delivered by the mayor at the University of NSW tonight.

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