Actions

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.

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.

State Government

• Revise the Speed Zoning Policy to enable councils to designate 30 km/h zones.
• Fund walking and biking on council controlled streets via grants of up to $100 per person per year to each council in Victoria, i.e. $10 million per year for Yarra from a total of $0.7 billion per year.
• Deliver the VicRoads Principal Bicycle Network on state government controlled arterial roads, with a budget of $100 million per year; including revitalising arterial shopping streets with wider footpaths, protected bicycle lanes, protected intersections and level access tram stops.
• Give councils authority to design and implement traffic control devices on local streets, e.g. to deliver wombat crossings and modal filters.
• Speed up trams by using smart traffic lights to clear intersections as trams approach.
• Revise planning schemes to treat car parking as a separate land use (this will eliminate costly parking mandates from other land uses) for properties within the Principal Public Transport Network area.
• Expand the off-street parking levy to encompass all properties within the Principal Public Transport Network area.
• Manage congestion on state government controlled arterial roads by imposing demand responsive driving charges.
• Develop and implement an Integrated Transport Plan for greater Melbourne, based on the Melbourne Rail Plan 2020-2050 and the NSW Future Transport Strategy.

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.

How you can help

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