Category: Advocacy

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Advocacy Uncategorised

Bicycle Queensland’s Ambitious Budget Submission Urges Government Commitment to Transformative Active Transport Initiatives 

Happy Father and son riding their bicycles by the lake. Father and son having fun together on their bikes in the park. Happy family, outdoors activities, childhood and parenting concept.

We are pleased present our organisation’s 2024-25 Budget Submission, showcasing our steadfast commitment to the one million Queenslanders who engage in cycling and scootering weekly, whether for transport, recreation, or sport. 

Attached is Bicycle Queensland’s comprehensive budget document, a blueprint aligning with the Queensland Cycling Action Plan and the 2022 State Infrastructure Strategy. Our dedication to advancing active transport is evident, supporting the government’s initiatives for healthier communities. 

In our submission, we champion solutions that align with the National Obesity Strategy 2022–2032 and the Queensland Climate Action Plan. We emphasise four key focus areas: 

1. Healthy and Active Communities, Safer Neighbourhoods: 

  • Implementing behaviour change programs for school children and families. 
  • Delivering women-specific bike riding programs. 

2. Increased Investment in Walking and Cycling Infrastructure (Target: 10% by 2032): 

  • Allocating 10% of the transport budget to active transport projects. 
  • Building safe school commute infrastructure, retrofitting end-of-trip facilities, and implementing bike storage in schools. 
  • Establishing separated cycle ways within communities. 

3. Safer Freight Vehicle Package (Australian Design Rules – ADRs): 

  • Providing financial incentives for owner-drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles to retrofit blind-spot safety features. 

4. Promoting Electric Bikes for Emission Reduction and Financial Relief: 

  • Developing a strategy for behavioural change. 
  • Offering subsidies to encourage the adoption of electric bikes. 

In the spirit of collaboration, our budget priorities are harmoniously aligned with like-minded organisations such as The Heart Foundation, Queensland Walks, and Diabetes Australia – Queensland. Together, we can amplify our impact and make significant strides towards shared goals. 

We invite you to engage with us to discuss the submission in detail and address any inquiries to j.valmadre@bq.org.au  

Your ongoing support is pivotal in creating a healthier, more sustainable Queensland. Let’s continue to make a lasting impact on the lives of our fellow Queenslanders. 

Thank you for your commitment to our cause.  

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Advocacy

BQ response to coronial findings on the death of Carolyn Lister

10 October 2023

Bicycle Queensland Interim CEO Lisa Davies-Jones said: “Bicycle Queensland has been very disturbed to read the coronial report into the death of Carolyn Lister, who died while riding her bike to work at the Royal Brisbane Hospital in July 2020.”

“Carolyn Lister’s death was tragic and unnecessary.  She died because there is no appropriate cycling corridor around the Royal Brisbane Hospital, a major workplace. The truck which hit her did not have safety features which have since been made mandatory for new trucks in Australia.

“Once again, we grieve Carolyn Lister’s tragic and unnecessary death, and we express our deepest condolences to her husband John and family.

“Bicycle Queensland has consulted with Brisbane-area bicycle user groups, who also shared our grief and our disappointment with the long wait for these findings, and the delays that this has caused to making our roads and paths safer.

“We call on Brisbane City Council to urgently implement the upgraded paths and crossings along O’Connell Terrace and Bowen Bridge Rd as mentioned as an “Interim Concept Plan” in the coroner’s findings. If there was any reason to wait for these safety improvements (taking into account the active transport community’s feedback on the concept designs), the publication of these findings removes that reason. We also note that the bikeway and shared path network of inner-city Brisbane is incomplete and disjointed, and that there are still many locations around Brisbane where heavy vehicles share space with vulnerable road users including bike riders, walkers, and scooter riders.

“Every person who leaves home in the morning to travel on our roads and paths has the rightful expectation that they will return home again. Brisbane City Council and the State Government must do more to provide for the safety of all users of our transport systems.

“We welcome the Federal Government’s announcement last week on new mandatory safety features for heavy vehicles, especially side under-run protection, blind spot mirrors, and safety sensors. Had the truck which ran over Carolyn Lister been better equipped with modern safety features, the driver might have been alerted to Carolyn’s presence. However, as the Federal announcement only applies to new vehicles, it would not have saved Carolyn, as the owner-driver fleet is typically older and less safe than trucks owned by the large logistics firms such as Boral.

“We call on State Government and Federal Government to jointly fund safety improvements to the existing fleet of trucks, focussing on assisting owner-drivers to ensure that their vehicles meet the latest safety standards including side under-run protection, blind spot mirrors, and safety sensors.

“We call on State and Federal Government to phase out trucks which cannot be made to meet current safety standards.

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Advocacy

Brisbane bicycle advocates deliver priority list to BCC

Bicycle Queensland and the Brisbane-based bicycle user groups (CBD BUG, East BUG, Brisbane West BUG, North BUG and Airport BUG) have put forward a consolidated priority list to Brisbane City Council’s Transport chair Cr Ryan Murphy.

The list highlights the projects that bicycle advocates believe would be reasonable to expect to be completed at the start of the next four year Council term, regardless of the composition of Council.

Top of the priority list is Stage 5 of the North Brisbane Bikeway, from Price Street through to Eagle Junction. Other top of the list items are the Viola Place link, connecting the links at either end of Indooroopilly Riverwalk, and Stage 2 of CityLink to Fortitude Valley.

The list then goes on to request BCC give priority to addressing the lack of bikeway connectivity on the east side of the city, and lists potential projects in that quarter which would make a difference.

It then looks at those arterial roads currently used by bike riders which have pain points and difficult sections: Nudgee Road, Annerley Road (Annerley Junction to Dutton Park), Kedron Brook Road through Wilston village, Vulture Street: West End to Goodwill Bridge, Sugarmill Road and Sylvan Road.

The full list of bicycle priorities for Brisbane is linked here.

Bicycle Queensland and the bicycle user groups will be sharing this document (and seeking responses to the priorities listed) with candidates for the BCC elections, due in March next year.

BQ Director of Advocacy Andrew Demack said: “It was great to collaborate on this list with the bicycle advocacy groups of Brisbane. These advocates live and breathe these concerns every day, and have great insight to share with Council’s decision-makers about the changes we can make to improve the uptake of bike riding in Brisbane. We are hopeful that this list won’t just remain a static document, but that we will see many of these projects become reality as soon as possible.”

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Advocacy

A tribute to Gillian Duncan

Advocacy takes many forms in the bicycle world. One of Australia’s most influential cycling advocates, Gillian Duncan, sadly passed away from cancer recently.

Gillian led the cause of legitimising mountain bike trail access in Brisbane, and was the founder of Gap Creek Trails Alliance.

In partnership with Mark Roberts she published the seminal book ‘Where to MTB in South-East Queensland’, which predated online resources, and was a breakthrough in listing all the legitimate trail experiences available.

Gillian was softly-spoken and smiled often, but her gentle exterior only slightly veiled her incredible tenacity and persistence. Below are some further tributes to Gillian, from people who worked closely with her over the years.

Chris Maierhofer (trail builder, mountain biker):

Gillian was a true trail blazer. An instigator, agitator, and advocate; she was tenacious, patient, and strategic.

She shaped the path of mountain biking not only Gap Creek but regionally and nationally. From shaping the direction and construction of trails on ground to being instrumental in bringing IMBA to Australia and helping to author the first ever Australian Mountain bike national trail guidelines and being president of Mountain Bike Australia.

Mark Roberts (mapmaker, book publisher):

During the last 12 years, Gillian and I created 5 books in 11 editions and sold 42,000 copies – 20 tonnes of books! I am proud to have collaborated with Gillian and very proud of what we made together.

Rob George (Roadie Rob, mtb coach and trail builder):

We lost the original driving force of mountain biking and women’s mountain biking in Brisbane when Gillian Duncan passed away.

Without her I can’t imagine mountain biking in Brisbane and also my own businesses wouldn’t be anywhere near where they are today.

She approached me in the early 2000s to tell me that mountain biking was going to be part of the Real Adventure Women’s program and asked if I would run it.

She was always pushing for new mountain bike trails, and boy did she have to fight hard for that, she copped heaps of flack, but she absolutely never backed off.

Mountain biking has lost one of our great leaders this week but she will always be remembered.

Please when you’re riding your favourite trail, remember Gillian because there is a good chance she had a big part in the reason why it’s there.

Vale Gillian Duncan will be deeply missed but never forgotten.

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Advocacy Partner News

Cover your devices with RACQ Everyday Lite

We are excited to announce we’ve partnered with RACQ to provide roadside assistance solutions to people using e-scooters, e-bikes, bicycles, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, and other eligible devices. Bicycle Queensland members can now access an exclusive discount on the RACQ Everyday Lite product.

Rebecca Randazzo, Bicycle Queensland CEO, says, “We are excited to partner with RACQ. This new offering will enable more people to safely access micro-mobility options.”

RACQ Everyday Lite is roadside assistance for those who use bikes, scooters, and other eligible devices. Benefits include:

  • Cover your e-scooters, e-bikes, bicycles, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, and other eligible devices
  • Get up to 4 call outs per year
  • RACQ will arrange alternative transport per call-out
  • RACQ will tow your eligible device 10km in any direction if taxi, rideshare, or maxi taxi options aren’t applicable

Bicycle Queensland members can access the discount on the new Everyday Lite product by logging into the member portal and following the prompts.

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Advocacy Uncategorised

E-bikes Should Be Included In The National EV Strategy

Bicycle Queensland says the Federal Government is missing a major opportunity to create real change in the move towards electric vehicles.

BQ has joined with all the major bicycle advocacy groups in a submission to the Federal Government’s National Electric Vehicle strategy.

The group has called for the Strategy to recognise the potential for e-bikes and other light electric vehicles to contribute to the goals of the National EV Strategy.

E-bikes and micro-mobility are increasingly popular as car replacements for daily commuting trips, they address the cost-of-living crisis through significantly lower acquisition and running costs than EVs, they are viable for the short transport trips that make up half of all trips each day in Australia and their use contributes to health, environmental and community benefits.

But at the moment, e-bikes are not included in the National Strategy.

View our joint submission here.

Graphic from the Institute for Sensible Transport
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Advocacy Uncategorised

Bridges section of Boyne-Burnett Inland Rail Trail opens

Opening of the Mt Debatebale to Mundubbera rail trail.

The Boyne-Burnett Inland Rail Trail (BBIRT) is a great success story of grassroots actions by communities a long way away from the seat of power. Last weekend a second section was officially opened, 30km of trail from Mt Debateable to Mundubbera.

This is the “Bridges” section of the BBIRT, as the rail corridor runs beside the mighty Burnett River, and crosses the many creeks feeding the river as they run off Mt Gayndah and the Binjour Plateau. The bridges which cross these creeks are listed by Engineers Australia as being of heritage significance.

Unfortunately floods have seen off two of these bridges, Reid Creek and Philpott, making it difficult for the rail trail to run along the corridor the entire distance from Gayndah to Mundubbera. At present, the trail starts 10km out of town in Mt Debateable siding, as the Reid Creek crossing prevents the trail from connecting into Gayndah. However, there is a detour around the site, where the bridge across Philpott Creek once was, adding a few kilometres to the journey.

Like many Queensland rail trails, this is an adventure experience. There are sandy sections, bumpy sections, and a few steep pinches out of gullies. The trail is best suited to a mountain bike (e-mtb is becoming popular too).

But for the adventurous who attempt the Bridges section of the BBIRT, you are rewarded with great views, and several plaques marking historical sites of interest.

‘Packs and Pedals’ runs a shuttle service on the BBIRT, and they can help you explore either the Bridges section or the Tunnels section from Kalpowar to Ubobo in the Boyne Valley.

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Advocacy Bikeway detours and closures Partner News Uncategorised

UQ Lakes Station Works

Major construction has commenced at UQ Lakes station in St Lucia. Bike riders will see changed conditions through the area as construction takes place. The Eleanor Schonell Bridge bikeway will be temporarily closed, but alternatives routes to navigate the affected area can be found below.

You can find more details of the construction notice here.

To find out more details check out the Councils website here.