ACT Greens Jo Clay MLA has released a discussion paper detailing why more active travel is needed and how to get it.
“Canberrans love active travel. We have the highest level of cycling in Australia and almost everyone uses active travel at some point,” Green Jo Clay MLA said. Even those who drive most places will still get out of their car and walk or wheel to their final destination.
“We need more active travel. We are in a climate crisis and around 60 per cent of our tracked emissions come from transport. Congestion in Canberra is also a problem and it is getting worse at a rate over three times faster than most Australian capital cities. We have to do more to help Canberrans choose the original zero-emissions transport method of active travel. We need to make active travel fun, accessible and safe for everyone.
“The ACT government has set really ambitious goals for active travel but we are not increasing uptake fast enough to reach those goals. If we want a different result, we need to do things differently,” said Jo Clay.
“Since November last year I have been speaking with Canberrans who use active travel and community groups like Pedal Power ACT who work in this space. I’m keen to hear more broadly from the rest of the community about what would encourage them to jump on a bike or walk to get where they need to go.
“My discussion paper sets out six steps to help more Canberrans use more active travel, more often.”
These include planning for active travel, building and maintaining a really good separated network of footpaths and shared paths, promoting active travel, just, prioritising active travel and removing legislative and planning barriers and learning what’s working here and around the country.
She said it had been a big week for active travel.
“On Wednesday, we passed my amendments to make our roads safer for vulnerable users by introducing a $900 fine and three demerit points where a negligent driver causes harm,” she said.
“My discussion paper is out for consultation until 30 April 2022. I really want Canberrans to get in touch and let me know what they think about how we can improve active travel.
