Bicycle Queensland has welcomed the State Government’s new incentives for electric vehicle purchases, but says they don’t go far enough.

“E-bikes are the original zero-emission vehicles, and they are even better for the environment than electric cars,” according to Bicycle Queensland’s Director of Advocacy Andrew Demack.

“E-bikes require fewer resources to manufacture and run, and they are more efficient because of their relative lightweight, and the physical input of the person riding. In every way e-bikes are better for the environment than electric vehicles,” Demack said.

“We support the State Government’s initiative to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles, especially for business. Logically, if we are giving financial incentives for people to leave fossil-fuel-powered vehicles behind, then e-bikes fall right into that same category.”

One of Australia’s largest commercial enterprises, Australia Post, has switched to small electric trikes which fall outside the regulations for e-bikes, so they have to be registered. Even with that added cost of registration, Australia Post sees a cost-benefit advantage in changing over their entire delivery fleet to small electric vehicles.

Bicycle Queensland urged the Queensland Government to think big and think wide when tackling the issues of climate change and sustainable transport.

“Just because a technology has been available for a while it doesn’t mean it should be discounted or sidelined. In Queensland, we’ve only just begun to see the benefits of e-bikes for commuting and utility trips. In many cities around the world cargo e-bikes are taking a much more prominent role as commercial vehicles, especially for delivery in congested inner-city areas,” Demack said.

In a letter to Transport and Main Roads Minister the Hon Mark Bailey, and Energy and Renewables Minister the Hon Mick de Brenni, Bicycle Queensland put forward the idea of a $1000 rebate on e-bikes, with a further $500 rebate if the e-bike owner also reduces the number of cars registered in Queensland.

“We have heard so often from e-bike retailers that customers are buying e-bikes for their family as a replacement for a second car. This has great financial benefits for those families, but also for Queensland. Fewer cars on the road mean lower emissions and less traffic congestion. Surely this is something that the Queensland Government should embrace!”

The average Brisbane family now spends more than $23,000 per year on transport, about 17% of household income. Let’s give Queensland families the nudge they need to ditch the second car, go green, reduce emissions, and live healthier lives.

In the lead-up to the Brisbane City Council’s budget, Bicycle Queensland’s advocacy team wrote to BCC Transport chair Cr Murphy outlining our top priorities following recent rain events.

We said the recent weather damage to our bikeways must be a signal to BCC to re-double our efforts towards making Brisbane a better place to walk and ride. Any other response will see our generation condemned by those to come.

BQ’s top priorities in Brisbane City Council LGA:

• Complete Stage 5 of the North Brisbane Bikeway.
• Continue with planning and seeking funding for the Toowong to West End and St Lucia to West End Green Bridges.
• Rebuild the Kedron Brook Bikeway back better.

We have also been working with the North Brisbane Bicycle Users Group on potential interim solutions for local access to washed-out sections of the Kedron Brook bikeway around Stafford and Grange. 

BQ and NorthBUG have written to the Lord Mayor offering these solutions and requesting temporary paths be put in place. Read our letter here.

UPDATE: You can view the updates to the North Brisbane Bikeway here.

Queensland school zones will be safer than ever, thanks to more than $40 million in increased investment in the state budget for two important projects to boost school safety.

Bicycle Queensland CEO Rebecca Randazzo has welcomed the State Government’s announcement.

“School crossings are a great investment in the safety and health of our children,” Ms Randazzo said.

Bicycle Queensland has called for better paths in the 1.5 km catchment around all schools as part of our plan to help Queensland become the healthiest state.

“The environment around our schools has to encourage people to walk, ride and scoot to school. We need not just safe crossings, but also wider footpaths in the 1.5km catchment around schools so that students and parents can find ways of getting to school that relieve congestion, encourage physical activity, and build resilience.

“Congratulations to Minister Bailey on this great step, and for listening to local communities who are saying that the trip to school for many families is an important opportunity to build some exercise into their day.”

“Safe infrastructure which encourages people to walk and ride is important everywhere in our local neighbourhoods, but it has to start with the trip to school,” Ms Randazzo said.

With active travel growing across Queensland, we encourage more school communities to invest in education and infrastructure to support students actively travelling to school.

To learn more, check out Bicycle Queensland’s Active Travel Schools webpage and gain access to free resources to get your school started!

Bicycle Queensland’s Director of Advocacy, Andrew Demack, represents members on the Sunshine Coast Active Transport Advisory Committee (ATAC). This committee was an initiative of Transport and Main Roads Minister, Hon Mark Bailey, and includes a councillor from Sunshine Coast Regional Council, and senior staff from both the Council and TMR district office.

The committee includes a group of excellent local cycling advocates: Damian Jones, Prue Oswin, and Tim Rogers from the Sunshine Coast chapter of Cycling Without Age. The local advocacy group are setting the agenda for how to move active transport forward on the Sunshine Coast. As well as looking at bikeway infrastructure priorities, they have also identified cycling and walking access to shopping and education precincts as an area that gives great ‘bang-for-buck’ in terms of outcome for dollars spent.

At Sunshine Coast ATAC’s most recent meeting, Prue pointed to the success of Montville’s walking precinct as an example of adding raised pedestrian priority crossings to slow traffic and create an environment in which people feel comfortable walking and cycling. The group identified five projects across the Coast to get the ball rolling: priority crossings at Eumundi and Bli Bli, Mooloolaba to Minyama ferry, bikeway at Oceanic Drive, Wurtulla, improving path connections from Caloundra to Caloundra South, and signalising Nicklin Way/Caloundra Rd roundabout.

It’s great to work with local advocates with a vision for how cycling and walking have the potential to transform local communities, and we look forward to seeing these projects move forward!