Home

It was awesome to see so many cyclists supporting the annual Ride to Work Day at Edinburgh Gardens in Melbourne.

The event was organised by Bicycle Victoria with the support of the City of Yarra and sponsorship from various local businesses.

The police offered free bicycle engravings that help identify the bike in the event of theft. Lord mayor Jane Garrett and Greens Councilor Kathleen Maltzahn also gave their support to the event.

With increasing road congestion and growing environmental concerns helping fuel peoples’ desire to find alternative forms of transport, cycling offers a viable, cheaper option that also keeps you healthy.

Unfortunately, while cyclists share a narrow shoulder on the side of most roads, it raises the possibility of being hit by cars and trucks..

In many European cities they have three major initiatives to help improve cyclists safety and increase patronage:

1.Copenhagen style bicycle lanes that clearly demarcate cyclists from vehicle traffic using dedicated bicycle lanes. The City of Melbourne has flagged a similar system for Swanston St.

2.Shifting the onus of blame to motorists in the event of a collision with a cyclist, ie in all cases of a vehicle/cyclist collision the motorist is guilty of an offense. Similarly, if a cyclist hits a pedestrian, the cyclist is presumed guilty.

3.Non-compulsory wearing of helmets. This will only be possible with the introduction of vehicle guilt in the event of a collision with a cyclist.

If you are inspired to ride to work, then check out Bikepark a company that has shower facilities and bicycle parking to help commuters get refreshed before heading into the office.

So, even if you missed this year’s event, riding to work is still an easy option every other day!

With more pressure on all forms of transport, it’s great to see the police booking motorcycles using the bicycle lane in Melbourne this morning.

While it’s great to see people using motorbikes rather than cars, there has to be a common sense approach to motorbike riders using the bicycle lanes to avoid the traffic congestion.

It is extremely dangerous to cyclists when 150-300kg of metal is hurtling in and out of the cycling lane, at times narrowly missing the bicycle commuters.

If we are to encourage people to adopt bicycle usage over using their cars, it has to be safe.

The real solution is to introduce the Copenhagen style bicycle lanes which is what is proposed by the City Of Melbourne for the new Swanston St redevelopment.

The City of Melbourne has released the new Swanston st redevelopment plan which will see European style piazza’s across four of the main intersections.

The major development is keeping Swanston Street closed to through traffic and giving a separated cycling lane, similar to the Copenhagen style bicycling lanes.

With pedestrian and cycling injuries a by product of the existing Swanston Street structure, it is awesome that finally cyclists have been acknowledged as a legitimate alternative form of transport into the city.

Overwhelmingly improved cycling access (44%) and reduce/removing cars (34%) were the major activities supported by comments made to the City of Melbourne.

The preferred means of transport was walking (44%), followed by cycling (36%), with car usage not even rating a mention.

While this proposal is still to go before Melbourne City council’s next meeting on Tuesday 2 February, there are still a few outstanding issues being commercial vehicle and taxi access.

Overrall a promising move forward to revitalise Swanston Street while giving cyclists a safer option when traveling through the heart of the city.