The Victorian State Government is being urged to make it easier for people to walk and ride as life slowly returns to normal after Covid.
A coalition of 14 bike riding, walking, transport, health and research groups, including We Ride Australia, said transport infrastructure investment needed to be spread equitably across all user groups, including Victorians who wanted to walk and ride every day.
We Ride’s Stephen Hodge noted the boom in people riding bikes during Covid was a significant opportunity for all levels of government to build attractive and convenient options for walking and cycling to continue after the pandemic.
The coalition’s Consensus Statement follows an earlier launch by We Ride of a call to Australians to contact their local governments in support of making the choice to ride a bike easier.
The key recommendations of the consensus statement are:
- Recognise walking and bike riding as essential parts of integrated transport planning;
- Prioritise streets for people in residential areas, around schools, and shopping strips; and
- Upgrade cities, regional centres, and local neighbourhoods by improving footpaths, bike lanes, crossing opportunities, and completing missing links.