Cyclists rally for the restoration of the bike budget on the steps of Parliament House on June 21. Photo: bicycle_network/flickr
CYCLISTS will hold more public rallies to protest the Baillieu Government’s cuts to bicycle infrastructure, a spokesman from Bicycle Network Victoria has told the City Journal.
Hundreds of frustrated cyclists turned out at two major rallies in Abbotsford and at Parliament House recently after bicycle funding was slashed in the State Budget.
A group of prominent Victorians, including footballing legend Ron Barassi, has also called on Premier Ted Baillieu to continue the Liberal Party’s “long tradition of funding support” for bike riding.
VicRoads spokeswoman Caitlin Barratt told the City Journal at least $10 million would be spent on bicycle projects through VicRoads’ “bicycle facilities program” in 2012-13 and that the government would release a cycling strategy in 2012.
But Bicycle Network Victoria spokesman Garry Brennan claimed the government was hiding its cuts to the VicRoads bicycle program behind existing commitments and other departments’ spending.
“The government is trying to disguise its cut to the bicycle program by quoting figures from the road building program, which automatically provides facilities for bikes, buses and pedestrians,” Mr Brennan said.
He said more rallies were in the pipeline but could not confirm when they would be held.
“Rallies will continue to highlight the government’s failures,” he said.
Under increasing pressure, Transport Minister Terry Mulder released the Coalition’s bicycle commitments to the public in June.
The Bicycle Network called the release “creative accountancy” and said VicRoads’ bicycle program budget had been scrapped.
Official government budget papers show a target of four bicycle projects to be delivered for 2012-13, down from 22 in 2011-12.
The Coalition needed to commit to increasing bicycle investment as the number of riders was outstripping the capacity of present infrastructure, Mr Brennan said.
“The growth of expenditure has to be at least the same as the growth in riders. Otherwise we go backwards,” he said.
“The government cut the VicRoads bicycle program, which would have spent $20 million this year.”
Jan Garrard, a researcher in active transport at Deakin University, said evidence showed the benefit-to-cost ratio of cycling infrastructure was far greater than motor vehicle infrastructure.
“The median benefit-to-cost ratio is five … you put in a dollar and get five back. Very few road infrastructure projects produce those sort of BCRs,” she said.
“There is no doubt that we underinvest in cycling infrastructure compared to the benefits that we can get out of it.”
Cyclists may have one thing to cheer about, with the City of Melbourne recently releasing a draft bike plan with $5.6 million in new funding.
VicRoads would not comment on this specific proposal.
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