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
Funding
- Allocate an annual budget of $10m for walking, cycling and place making, reflecting estimates of the necessary expenditure.
- Expand the developer contributions plan to provide recurring funding.
Policies and plans
- Develop and implement an Integrated Transport Plan and accompanying Parking Management Plan that can ensure people can safely access any property in Yarra, irrespective of whether they choose to walk, cycle, use public transport or drive.
- Review all 21 Local Area Place Making (LAPM) areas within each 4-year term of Council.
- Enable active transport within 20-minute neighbourhoods by establishing 30 km/h superblocks.
- Re-locate metered car-parking from shopping streets to the first 5-10 bays on each side street to free up space for wider footpaths, protected bicycle lanes, protected intersections and level access tram stops.
- Invest in mobility counters that can measure people walking, cycling, using public transport or driving in Yarra, to guide the re-allocation of budgets and street space.
- Alter Council’s organisational structure so that decisions regarding the allocation of public space to various types of on-street parking (unrestricted, time restricted, permit restricted) are made by the Planning & Placemaking team, not the Finance & Compliance team.
Laws and regulations
- Change parking minimums to parking maximums.
- Use demand responsive parking charges for parking meters.
- Change the eligibility of on-street parking permits so that if a property has a crossover, they are not eligible for the first, lowest cost permit.
- Increase the price for on-street parking permits to $1 per day.
- Update the “Standard Concrete Vehicle Crossing” drawing YSD601 to match best practice from the Netherlands.
- Increase the target for car sharing vehicles to 2,000 by 2030 and permit them to be located on residential streets.
Learn more in our Manifesto for Reform.
State Government
- Allocate at least 50% of the state transport budget to walking, cycling, public transport, and place making.
- Develop and implement an Integrated Transport Plan for greater Melbourne, with a view to effectively moving people in a city of 8 million.
- Decrease traffic congestion by constructing the Melbourne Rail Plan 2018-2050 and the VicRoads Principal Bicycle Network; and by introducing demand responsive driving charges.
- Attract more business to our grid of main streets by building wider footpaths, protected bicycle lanes, protected intersections and level access tram stops.
- Speed up trams by using smart traffic lights to clear intersections as trams approach; and by using demand responsive driving charges to maintain traffic volumes below defined thresholds.
- Support Local Governments to introduce 30 km/h for non-arterial streets.
Guidance on the above actions is offered by the ‘Transporting Melbourne‘ report from the Committee for Melbourne:
Federal Government
- Allocate at least 50% of the federal transport budget to walking, cycling, public transport, and place making.
- Link federal road funding to state and federal governments with requirements to assess all roads and streets in their jurisdiction for safety, as part of AusRAP.
- Support efforts to implement 30 km/h speed limits in dense urban areas.
- Avoid funding free car parking at suburban train stations – instead fund walking and cycling infrastructure for short distances and fund bus services for longer distances.
Guidance for the above actions is offered by the Gear Change report from the UK Government Department for Transport:
