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Transport future without motorcycles?

NSW Future transport report

While the future of transport would seem to be smaller vehicles and more two-wheelers, one state doesn’t agree and has left motorcycles out of its plans.

The NSW Future Transport Technology Roadmap for the next 20 years doesn’t mention motorcycles once in its 98 pages.

That’s not uncommon among planning authorities. We’ve criticised Austroads before over road network planning reports that don’t mention motorcycles and statistical reports that say motorcycles are “insignificant”.

But when the biggest state in Australia totally ignores the fastest-growing personal vehicle segment (up 2.7% over the past year) in a study outlining future transport planning, it defies belief.

The study says that since 2011, the NSW Government has embarked on an “ambitious infrastructure program to inject much-needed capacity into the transport system”.

It talks about expensive widening of roads, new rail projects, more buses and ferries, etc.

However, none of this might have been needed if more was done to encourage and facilitate motorised two-wheelers.Austroads report transport

Roads would not have to be wider, and more public transport and specific lanes would not have to be introduced.

Lane filtering

NSW was the first state to introduce lane filtering, yet there is no mention of how this is helping to move traffic quicker.

Motorcycles and scooters should be a major part of the transport solution.

Instead of being ignored, they should be allowed in bus, transit and bicycle lanes; exempt from tolls; permitted to park on footpaths; and encouraged with lower tax incentives.

As usual, bicycles get a mention, especially electric bicycles and bicycle hire schemes.

Yet the Brisbane City Council bicycle hire scheme is a farce with racks and racks of unused bicycles cluttering up footpaths.

It’s a constant reminder to the ratepayer of their squandered funds.

How can authorities continue to be blind to the virtues of motorised two-wheeled transport and produce such short-sighted plans? 

  1. Why are the authorities blind? Follow the money.

    What is in “it” for the major sources of political donations – the major developers and infrastructure builders – if less roads need building and widening? If less “major transport hubs” need to be built and the surrounding areas rezoned for high density living?

  2. NSW is refusing to go the bikeshare route due to witnessing the failure of Brisbane and Melbourne.
    The Brisbane City Council’s citycycle scheme is failing because they have failed to overcome the barriers to the bike share system working – mandatory helmet laws and space for cycling. There are over 1000 bikeshare schemes around the world – all but two are wildly successful: Only Brisbane and Melbourne have schemes where riding without a helmet is a criminal activity.
    Brisbane Council steadfastly rejects the suggestion by thousands (in the biggest responded to e-petition on their website) to install a protected grid of safe cycling lanes in the CBD. Hundreds of other cities around the world such as Paris, New York and London have done this already.

    I’m not sure why Brisbane gets a mention anyway, this is a NSW publication. NSW have aggressively targeted bicycles in order to rid the roads of them. More space for cars I assume.
    Cars take up 10 square metres of space but the NSW government are destroying the fabric of the city building Westconnex for cars instead of integrating and expanding public transport for all.

    That this document excludes and ignores another vulnerable group of road users (motorcyclists) doesn’t surprise me since Dinosaur Duncan Gay is heading the charge to rid the roads of everything but cars and trucks. He’s a complete imbecile.

  3. Mark I was in Budapest 2 years ago and they have the same bicycles in the same racks as we have here. Obviously from the same supplier. And just like Brisbane.. all of the bikes were in the racks. Did not see one on the road in the days we were there. Stacks of motor scooters though.

    We do need more bike parking here in the city of Brisbane. Workers who get in REALLY early manage to jag a spot in the dedicated areas. But if need to go in to the city say around 10 AM or so as I do for the odd shoot, then forget taking your bike.. unless you want to park in a commercial car park.

    Time for a protest march…. “What do we want?”

    “More motorbike parking!”

    “When do we want it?”

    “Now!”

    What do you reckon 🙂

  4. And we sit and wonder why car drivers are oblivious to us, the governments and road authorities are guilty of this and no doubt are the cause.
    It’s really starting to give me the right royal shits, twice this morning I was almost run off the highway at 110kph. And worse still neither driver gave two shits about it.
    Protest, protest, how about we start taking the law into our own hands, the cops don’t do jack shit.
    We are not allowed in Vic to use helmet cams, and a fat lot of good a handle bar mounted action cam, would have been, in both cases this morning.

    Footnote: Nigel your on the money, spot on.

  5. The truth is the authorities don’t want to encourage motorcycling!
    We saw this first hand many years ago during the enquiry into motorcycle safety in Victoria. Vicroads admitted back then they would do nothing to encourage motorcycling and while they got their bum kicked over it only a fool would believe they have actually changed their way of thinking…
    So, it certainly doesn’t come as a shock that other States may share a similar view…

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