Let’s build a beautiful, liveable and accessible city

Streets Alive Yarra calls on local, state and federal governments to provide sustained long-term investment in walking, cycling, public transport and place making; and to update laws and regulations to deliver better outcomes for health, transport and land use.

Video credit: We Ride Australia

Local Government

  • Implement the adopted Transport Strategy, the Place Making Framework, the Local Liveable Streets Guide and the Urban Forest Strategy.
  • Raise an additional $10 million per year by charging commuters to park in Yarra, using permit zones and digital permits, enforced by automatic number plate recognition.
  • Allocate an annual budget of $10m for capital works to support walking, cycling and place making, funded by the additional revenue from on-street parking.
  • Convert each neighbourhood into a 30 km/h zone, with traffic calming and modal filters.
  • Deliver an additional 3 km of protected bike lanes each year.
  • Open a new pocket park each quarter, somewhere in Yarra.
  • Build a new wombat crossing each month, somewhere in Yarra.
  • Reallocate 5,000 parking bays to deliver 1,000 ‘mobility and access zones‘ across Yarra, each with a loading bay, a disabled parking bay, a car share bay, a corral for shared e-scooters, and a hangar for private e-bikes.
  • Invest in mobility counters that measure the number of people walking, cycling, using public transport and driving in Yarra, to guide the re-allocation of budgets and street space.
  • Eliminate parking minimums from the planning scheme; and mandate a parking maximum of one bay per 100 m2 of floor area; for properties within the Principal Public Transport Network area.
Actions for local government. Image credit: Streets Alive Yarra.

State Government

The Melbourne Rail Plan and the NSW Future Transport Strategy offer guidance for the State Government. Image credits: Rail Futures Institute and Transport for NSW.

Federal Government

  • Redirect funding from commuter car parks at train stations toward walking, e-biking, bike parking, and buses.
  • Link federal road funding to state governments with requirements to upgrade all roads in their jurisdiction to a 5-star safety rating, defined by AusRAP.
  • Manage congestion on federal highways with demand responsive driving charges.
  • Support 30 km/h for local, non-arterial streets.
  • Lead the adoption of uniform national best-practice design guidelines for networks of footpaths and bike lanes.
  • Fund walking and biking on council controlled streets via recurring grants of $100 per person per year to each council in Australia, i.e. $10 million per year for Yarra from a total of $2.5 billion per year.
The Gear Change report from the UK offers guidance for the Australian Government. Image credit: UK Department for Transport

How you can help

You can help by appearing as a champion for your local street or neighbourhood:

Let’s build a beautiful, liveable and accessible city