Tag: pedestrians

Eastern Transport Coalition: November meeting

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Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition covered a range of topics as the focus of the group begins to explore key issues that will be relevant for 2008.

The meeting included presentations from the Australian Greens and the Australian Democrats, both of whom are supportive of the need for federal involvement in urban public transport. While Family First, chose not to attend the meeting, I am aware that the Party has announced a policy supporting federal funding for public transport infrastructure.

This is significant, since each of the minor parties represented in Federal Parliament, support the notion of federal involvement in urban public transport. The discussions with the Greens and Democrats were fruitful, with both parties recognising the social, environmental and economic benefits of public transport improvements in the eastern suburbs and suggesting the use of the Senate as a method to raise awareness of the issue within Federal Parliament.

Regardless of the Federal election outcome, announcements such as the $80 million for the grade separation of Springvale Road Nunawading, provide a framework to advocate for partnerships between federal and local governments. This will allow public transport infrastructure to be included within such projects and allow both local and federal governments to hold the State government accountable for much needed public transport improvements.

The Eastern Transport Coalition has also continued its focus on the State Government with a presentation provided in regard to the Transport Legislation Review. The ETC will be authoring a submission that calls on the State Government to prioritise sustainable transport, as well as officially recognise the Government’s own target of increasing public transport modal share to 20% by the year 2020.

The current transport legislation review also draws into question the current lack of integration between VicRoads and the Public Transport Division of the Department of Infrastructure. While legislation may assist in improving outcomes, it will be hampered until physical integration between the Roads Authority (VicRoads) and the Public Transport Division is accomplished. VicRoads, as a statutory authority, enjoys a number of benefits that are not available to the public transport division which sits within the broader Department of Infrastructure.

This is clearly demonstrated in regard to the Maroondah Highway pedestrian crossing between Ringwood Station and Eastland. Despite the fact that the crossing is the most widely used within Maroondah, with over 5000 pedestrians daily, and links the Station with the retail and residential precincts of the Ringwood Transit City, VicRoads has currently been reluctant to improve the crossing.

Physical integration of government departments would follow examples in both Western Australia, with its integrated transport and planning department, and Queensland, which has a Coordinator-General’s department that as a statutory authority provides a whole of government referral authority.

The need for not just legislative integration but departmental integration is clear, with the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability stating that “A more streamlined approach to land use and transport integration in Victoria would be possible if a single strategic authority were established.”

It is anticipated that both the Legislation Review and the VCEC Inquiry to Melbourne’s Liveability will be a significant focus for the Eastern Transport Coalition in 2008, as we continue to call on the State Government to improve public transport in the eastern suburbs.

Melbourne 2030 Reference Group: 'Creating A City That Works'

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As part of today’s meeting of the Melbourne 2030 Reference Group I was invited to introduce the Eastern Transport Coalition and to discuss ‘Creating A City That Works’, a report compiled by the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability.

The presentation provided an opportunity to discuss the aims of the Eastern Transport Coalition and its goals on improving the sustainability of Melbourne’s eastern suburbs through advocating for public transport improvements.

The report, which was released in May 2007 examined the sustainability of Melbourne and had three key findings:

  • The need for stronger coordination between planning and transport
  • The need for better coordination between roads and public transport
  • The fact that current unsustainable urban trends, such as failing to provide effective public transport, cannot continue.

Passenger vehicles contribute 56% of Australia’s transport related emissions, meaning public transport and providing an alternative to car dependence, will be a requirement for any effective strategy that aims to reduce greenhouse emissions.

The current Victorian State Government has proposed legislation that will enshrine greenhouse reduction targets, these will not be achieved unless public transport is improved. The lack of a detailed action plan and interim targets for achieving the State Government’s goal of 20% public transport modal share by 2020 is particularly concerning.

public transport modal share (source: 07-08 State Budget)

While the number of people using public transport has increased, modal share according to the 2007-2008 State Budget papers has remained around 9%. The lack of interim targets and a detailed plan to achieve these goals makes it difficult to measure its progress. While the State Government continues to support its lacklustre transport strategy, Meeting Our Transport Challenges, the Commissioner demonstrated that the patronage targets were not ‘strongly reiterated as a policy that drives MoTC [Meeting Our Transport Challenges]’

Furthermore the Commissioner stated that “The 20/2020 target needs to be supported with a series of clear intermediate steps that show how it will be achieved.”

It is clear that the State Government must revise its transport policies if it intends to truly designate public transport as a priority.

The ongoing lack of coordination between public transport, roads and planning has had serious ramifications at a local level, particularly in regard to the Ringwood Transit City. State Government support for Ringwood has been marred with uncertainty, including the current lack of commitment over the much needed upgrade of Ringwood Station and improvements for pedestrians attempting to cross Maroondah Highway.

The desire to improve pedestrian access in Ringwood, such as providing less waiting time for pedestrians across Maroondah Highway has been continually stymied due to the lack of coordination between VicRoads and the Public Transport Division of the Department of Infrastructure.

Likewise the current inadequate rail frequencies beyond Ringwood, which result in a mere half hourly service during weekdays and an even worse frequency of bus services, restricts the potential for public transport to reduce car dependence within the centre of Ringwood.

As the ward councillor for much of the transit city area, I have been insisting on improvements to sustainability, such as footpath construction with new developments and water and energy sustainability, but a commitment from the State Government is required to ensure the provision of public transport improvements.

If coordination between State Government departments was improved and if an action plan and interim targets were developed to secure the goal of increasing public transport modal share to the 20% by 2020 then a commitment to the redevelopment of Ringwood Station and other public transport improvements would have been readily provided.

The next State Budget, due in May 2008, will test the State Government’s commitment to both Ringwood and our urban sustainability.

Bar None: Good Access = Good Business

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Today I participated in Good Access = Good Business, a combined Maroondah City Council and Department of Human Services initiative under the Bar None program, a local leadership recognition project.

Bar None aimed to celebrate community inclusion and to recognise local examples of inclusion for people with disabilities. Today’s forum provided an opportunity to discuss accessibility in the context of the business community.

Alex Makin at the opening of Bar None : Good Access = Good Business

As part of the proceedings I participated in a panel discussing access and inclusion within Maroondah. A number of topics were discussed, including the lack of disability compliance at Ringwood Station and the difficulty crossing roads such as Maroondah Highway due to the lengthy delays and lack of adequate crossing time.

Businesses such as Invicta Bus Company are demonstrating a comprehensive commitment to inclusion through significantly exceeding the State Government requirements for low-floor buses and through providing telephone assistance for people that require accessible bus services.

At a council level it is imperative that we work with Eastland and its parent company, Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to ensure that the proposed expansion of Eastland is accessible to the entire Maroondah community. Likewise new developments also need to be accessible and as such I have been requiring footpath construction as a condition for proposals within the Ringwood Transit City area. Maroondah Council is currently developing a principal pedestrian network, which will identify the areas that require footpaths thus improving the accessibility of our municipality.

In conjunction with Scoot Wheel N Move, Maroondah has encouraged businesses to participate in the Recharge Program, where shops are encouraged to provide power facilities for people with motorised scooters or wheelchairs. The cost to businesses is a mere 10 or 20 cents an hour but it ensures that people with motorised mobility aids are able to travel safely to and from the shops.

All levels of government need to work in cooperation to ensure a more inclusive and accessible society. While Maroondah is undertaking a number of strategic and practical initiatives to improve access, such as our new footpath construction policy and the Recharge Program, a commitment is also required from the State Government particularly in regard to our infrastructure.

Discussion Panel for Bar None : Good Access = Good Business

Ringwood Station currently fails disability compliance standards (DDA Act 1992) and as such its redevelopment is a necessity to ensure the success of an inclusive and vibrant future for Ringwood. Accompanied with the Station redevelopment, the State Government must also compel VicRoads to provide sufficient time for pedestrians to cross Maroondah Highway and minimise the lengthy delays that pedestrians must endure while they wait to cross the Highway. Many other pedestrian crossings also need improving and the State Government must deliver these accessibility improvements so that Maroondah can become an inclusive and accessible municipality.

I also had the privilege of opening Good Access = Good Business and a copy of my opening speech is available:

Continue reading “Bar None: Good Access = Good Business”

Presentation on urban sustainability and transport

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This afternoon I was invited to deliver a presentation exploring the linkages between urban sustainability and public transport to the 41st Annual Geography Conference organised by the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria (GTAV).

The hour-long presentation provided a synopsis on the economic, social and environmental benefits of public transport, investigated current urban policies and examined Ringwood as a case study to demonstrate the interdependence between urban sustainability and public transport.

While the State Government appears to have neglected its goal of increasing public transport modal share to 20% by the year 2020, this target is required to mitigate rising congestion. With an annual cost of $4 billion annually, congestion is currently outpacing Melbourne’s population growth. Likewise the provision of public transport will provide transport choice to the many outer suburban households that are struggling due to rising petrol prices and the fact that private transport consumes up to 20% of budgets within these households.

The lack of public transport in Melbourne’s outer suburbs can also place non-car households at a significant disadvantage and limit the ability to participate in employment, educational, community and recreational opportunities. Similarly, obesity and health issues such as diabetes, can be symptomatic of car dependent suburbs where the potential to exercise is diminished.

In regard to environmental sustainability, transport accounts for 17% of Australia’s national greenhouse emissions and is the fastest growing sector of emissions. The figures are even more stark for individual households, where due to car dependence, transport is responsible for up to 49% of greenhouse emissions and is the largest contributing source of emissions within households.

These and other costs mean that car dependence is not sustainable and that urban sustainability cannot be achieved under current practices. While it may be claimed that excessive car usage contributes to the economy, when equating the economic, social and environmental impacts of car dependence there is an annual deficit of $16.3 billion.

Melbourne 2030, the State Government’s urban planning strategy was supposed to achieve a more sustainable future for Melbourne. While the plan identified numerous activity centres, each of which are earmarked for urban development, the public transport network that was supposed to cater to these urban centres remains underdeveloped.

This is even more apparent in the purpose-built activity centres that were initially designed to showcase the integration that was to result between transport and planning. Activity centres such as South Morang, Cranbourne East and Wyndham Vale have been denied much needed rail extensions despite their location within the rapidly developing growth corridors.

The problems experienced with Melbourne’s public transport system, such as unreliable train services, infrequent and poorly connected bus services and trams that terminate short of logical destinations can be resolved, but it requires Government will. Within Australia, Perth has proven to be an example of the improvements that can result from an integration between transport and planning and a commitment to urban sustainability. As an example, Perth recently doubled the size of its rail network, including the construction of a new 70km rail line (twice the distance of the CBD to Dandenong) and new stations are built simultaneously with urban development.

The integration that has borne results in Perth needs to be implemented in Melbourne, particularly for designated transit cities such as Ringwood. The suburb of Ringwood, located 27km east of Melbourne’s CBD, has been designated an area of higher density development but the State Government has been lacklustre in its commitment to improving public transport.

Ringwood currently suffers due to a disjointed retail precinct and transport hub which requires pedestrians to cross a six lane highway. Despite the goals of creating a sustainable community, the State Government and VicRoads have currently refused requests to make it easier to cross Maroondah Highway. Coupled with poor public transport, which includes making public transport users wait up to half an hour to travel between Ringwood and Croydon, the current culture of car dependence is exacerbated and potentially jeopardises the ability to create green open space and a new heart for Ringwood. Furthermore the lack of commitment over the redevelopment of Ringwood Station has created uncertainty for major developers resulting in unnecessary delays.

Each of these issues are interrelated, since due to poor public transport there is less open space which creates a pedestrian hostile environment and investment delays as developers wait for these issues to be rectified. While 40% of land in Melbourne used for roads and carparks, a staggering 62% of land within Ringwood is used for these purposes, leaving less land available for residential, commercial and community purposes.

While new developments, such as three storey residential buildings, are occurring the investment in public transport and hence the investor confidence in larger commercial developments is not. In particular, while residents within these new developments are encouraged to use public transport, walking and cycling as a form of travel this will not be sustainable if public transport is not improved.

Poor public transport connectivity and a lack of frequent bus services along main roads, such as Maroondah Highway, Canterbury and Wonga Roads, means that public transport usage will remain limited due to the fact that these poor levels of service fail to provide a real transport choice. The State Government must deliver significant public transport improvements to demonstrate that it is committed to creating a sustainable community within Ringwood.

The provision of sustainable transport is a key component of creating a sustainable community and increasing economic, social and environmental pressures means that action is required.

Eastern Transport Coalition: Bus tour with the coordinator general of Infrastructure

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Today the Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC), provided a bus tour for Meredith Sussex, the Coordinator General of Infrastructure, to showcase the outer eastern and southeastern suburbs and to highlight areas that require greater coordination between public transport provision and land-use planning.

The tour began in Dandenong, where the City of Greater Dandenong outlined its vision for the Dandenong Transit City before proceeding to Knox where the need for the Rowville rail line, to facilitate the Stud Park Activity Centre, and the Knox tram extension were highlighted. Travelling through Bayswater the tour then proceeded into Maroondah where I explained the need for bus priority lanes along major bus routes (including Maroondah Highway and Canterbury Road), bus and rail coordination and for the further introduction of bicycle lanes to ensure adequate facilities for cyclists.

There is a need for further bus improvements, particularly along main roads such as Maroondah Highway (route 670), Canterbury Road (route 679), Wonga/Warrandyte Roads (route 364), Dorset Road (route 737) and Bayswater Road (route 664), to provide a network of frequent and readily available bus services throughout Maroondah. The addition of these routes onto the SmartBus network would complement the introduction of the long awaited Stud Road SmartBus (route 665) which is due to begin in early 2008.

The desired principal public transport network in Maroondah (click for larger version)

Map highlighting the desired principal public transport network within Maroondah. The identified bus routes need frequent and readily available services to connect Maroondah and surrounding regions to the Ringwood Transit City and the Croydon Activity Centre (view larger version of this map).

The tour included Croydon Station, to explain the need for more frequent interpeak services. Currently services are half hourly and this needs to be improved to at least a 20 minute frequency, which would provide the same level of service experienced on weekends. The Belgrave/Lilydale line is the only line where weekends are provided a more frequent service than weekdays.

At Ringwood, we provided the opportunity for Meredith to cross Maroondah Highway to demonstrate first-hand the delays and inconvenience caused to pedestrians due to lengthy delays and the minimal walking time provided at this crossing. The case to upgrade Ringwood Station into an accessible and safe transport interchange was also highlighted as this would allow the State Government to support the vision that is unfolding within the Ringwood Transit City. It is imperative that the State Government acts to reduce Maroondah Highway to four lanes once EastLink is opened to allow the creation of a pedestrian friendly town centre and to help breathe new life into the centre of Ringwood.

The tour then continued into Whitehorse and Manningham, where the need for improvements to the Box Hill Interchange and the Doncaster Road tram were explored. Through Monash the case for bus priority was detailed to prevent lengthy delays for bus travellers along Springvale Road. Several examples of poor coordination were demonstrated, particularly where the Wellington Road and Springvale Road SmartBuses missed each other.

The bus tour provided an opportunity to highlight the areas of action required by the State Government to facilitate improved sustainability within Melbourne’s outer east. It is hoped that the State Government and its Departments will act upon these requirements.

Croydon Stroke Support Group

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This morning I was invited to speak to the Croydon Stroke Support Group about my role as a Maroondah Councillor and to hear any concerns raised by members.

The discussion focussed strongly on Maroondah’s footpaths and the needs of pedestrians. Maroondah Council recently passed a Pedestrian Strategy which provides a framework to address the lack of footpaths within parts of the municipality. The Pedestrian Strategy will be reinforce by a Footpath Construction Policy which will enable Council to facilitate new footpaths particularly within areas that connect to schools, shops and public transport.

The Pedestrian Strategy also sets new standards in regard to footpath maintenance which will lead to an ongoing improvement to the condition of footpaths within Maroondah. This will lead to reduction in cracked and uneven footpaths making it easier for people to walk throughout Maroondah.

A number of concerns were raised in regard to the lack of adequate time to cross traffic lights, particularly in roads such as Maroondah Highway and Warrandyte Road. Unfortunately many of these roads are under the jurisdiction of VicRoads but council and myself personally have been advocating for longer pedestrian cycles to make it safer for people to cross the road. It is imperative that VicRoads listens to the community and realises that is responsible for the needs of pedestrians as well as vehicles.

The Croydon Stroke Support Group provides a support network for people who have suffered a stroke andprovides a range of activities for members, including guest speakers and social outings. It was a pleasure to speak to the group and I look forward to further discussions as we seek to improve the mobility of Maroondah.

Maroondah Journal: Footpath strategy on display

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Maroondah’s pedestrian strategy has reached draft status and is currently available for public comment. This provides the opportunity for the to comment on the strategy and the need for footpaths and the needs of pedestrians within Maroondah.

The Maroondah Journal has reported on the draft strategy and the strong level of community support for footpath improvements in Maroondah.

Cr Alex Makin said the “strategy allows us [Maroondah] to form a funding mechanism and plug some of the gaps.”

All trips involve a form of walking and a well-developed footpath network is required to help ensure maximum mobility for Maroondah’s residents.

“I urge the community to get behind the strategy. It’s imperative that feedback is received. We need to identify the areas that are of grave concern to the community.”

The Maroondah Pedestrian Strategy is available for comment from the Maroondah City Council website at www.maroondah.vic.gov.au.

Delegates' report: Student aspirations and future sustainability

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On the 8th of March I attended the launch of a Swinburne University of Technology commissioned report entitled ‘are we fostering enterprising young people?’, which benchmarked student aspirations within the outer east. Innovation and enterprise are the key drivers are key economic drivers for economic prosperity and it is therefore imperative that these skills are encouraged and fostered within our community.

Unfortunately it would appear that these aspirations are largely not being met within the eastern region. This is uncovered within the report, which showed there a significant gap between high school students wishing to commence further education and those that are actually undertake such education.

Likewise there were significant gaps between students wishing to seek employment within the eastern region and those that were actually able to fulfil this aspiration. The report highlights a number challenges in fostering and retaining enterprising youth within our region and I will be tabling a summary of the Swinburne findings with my delegates’ report.

On the 4th of March I attended a public rally organised by SCOOP and I would like to commend SCOOP for their ongoing advocacy in regard to the Croydon Memorial Pool. The public rally, which included a march of support for the outdoor pool, was extremely well attended and well-organised and included cooperation with the local police to ensure that all traffic and pedestrians issues were addressed.

I attended Croydon Conservation Society AGM on the 15th March. The Croydon Conservation Society has been in existence for over 40 years and is Maroondah’s leading conservation society.

The AGM featured a guest on water policy from the Department of Human Services who spoke about the potential adverse health risks that must be managed as we attempt source alternative water supplies due to our dwindling reservoirs.

It is quite clear that there is a severe gap in the current State Government framework that regulates alternative water supplies such as recycled water, storm water and bore water and it is imperative that this is rectified to ensure that as a council we are not being hamstrung by a lack of State Government guidelines in investigating and implementing alternative water supplies.

I will be tabling the rest of my report with a copy of the Swinburne University findings.

Maroondah Partners in Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee

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The Maroondah Partners in Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee is a council committee that involves key health and safety agencies, such as Victoria Police, Connex, VicRoads, Eastern Access Community Health and General Practitioners.

The committee meets on a quarterly basis to serve as a forum to discuss health, safety and wellbeing initiatives within Maroondah and to resolve any issues that may emerge. In this regard the safety of the Maroondah Highway/Ringwood Station pedestrian crossing was raised due to a recent pedestrian fatality.

Due to a lengthy traffic cycle, that prioritising cars over the needs of pedestrians, this crossing fails to be responsive to pedestrian needs resulting in up to a two minute wait to cross the road. With over 5000 pedestrians per day, as serving as the key crossing between Ringwood Station and the retail centre of Ringwood, the signals need to be more responsive to pedestrian needs.

ALGA and the Maroondah Mobility Expo: Empowering the Community

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I will be tabling my report but would like to elaborate further on two items, those being the National General Assembly of Local Government and the Maroondah Mobility Expo.

From the 26th through to the 30th of November I along with Cr. Gurr and Cr. Willmott participated in the National General Assembly of local government in Canberra. The National General Assembly convened by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) allows councils to raise issues within a national context., allowing ALGA to make representation on behalf of local councils to the Federal Government.

In this regard I am particularly pleased that Maroondah’s motion in relation to sustainable transport was passed by the general assembly. This will empower ALGA to advocate for federal involvement in sustainable transport.

I will be tabling a written report, which provides further details on the conference. View the written report on the 2006 National Assembly of ALGA

On the 5th of December I was invited by the Scoot Wheel ‘N’ Move to officially launch and MC the proceedings of Maroondah’s first mobility expo.

The expo provided a full day program that included:

  • Free scooter and wheelchair safety checks;
  • Trials of a low-floor bus;
  • Information sessions on topics such as:
  • Accessing public transport safely;
  • Road rules for motorised scooters and pedestrians;
  • Advice from occupational therapists;
  • Scooter etiquette to ensure safe usage of motorised scooters and wheelchairs;

The expo, which attracted over 250 attendees, was an overwhelming success and demonstrates the results that can be achieved with strong community partnerships.

The expo coincided with the launch of the booklet, Maintaining Your Mobility in Maroondah, which contains valuable tips and etiquette on using mobility aids with Maroondah.

Both the expo and the booklet were only possible due to the strong partnerships that exist between Maroondah City Council and the Maroondah’s Scoot Wheel ‘N’ Move Working Group.

The Scoot Wheel N Move working group comprises of local residents who are passionate volunteers and dedicated to improving mobility within Maroondah. The empowerment of the Scoot Wheel N Move and the strong cooperation with Maroondah resulted in the mobility expo exceeding all expectations.

The community members of the Scoot Wheel ‘N’ Move working and staff from Maroondah City Council, in particular Katie Goodrope Maroondah’s MetroAccess and Trisha Matthes, must be congratulated on working tirelessly to ensure the success of the expo.

The Mobility Expo coincided with the International Day for People with Disabilities and it was therefore fitting that the aim of the expo was to help ensure that all members of the Maroondah community could participate confidently and fully in society.

Given the positive it is clear that the Mobility Expo succeeded in its aim of empowering people within Maroondah. The success of the Expo and Scoot Wheel ‘N’ Move provides a framework to ensure further engagement and empowerment of our community.