Bicycle Network Victoria is a charity that promotes the health of the community. We work with our supporters to get “More People Cycling More Often” and measurably grow the bike riding world. More...
Cruise the clouds
Bike riders will be able to cruise across Melbourne above the traffic if plans for an elevated cycleway between Flinders Street and Southern Cross Stations come to fruition.
The innovative B1 Veloway has been proposed a group of leading firms engaged in architecture, transport design, engineering and project management.
It may solve the long running problem of building an east-west bike route along Yarra edge of the CBD, an issue which has so far defied a cost-effective solution.
Running alongside the existing rail viaduct the B1 will separate bikes from cars and pedestrians and will link Melbourne¹s bicycle networks from Cremorne, Richmond in the East to Spencer Street and Docklands in the West and to the North. More on the Veloway here.
Doyle boosts bike budget
No sooner had Premier Ted Baillieu slashed the VicRoads bike budget to zero than Melbourne's Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle stepped in to boost the City's bike commitment to record levels.
In its draft budget released today the City Council plans to invest $5.6M in 15 kilometres of new bike lane infrastructure in and round the CBD.
The plan signals a new level of determination at the Town Hall to match its pro-bike rhetoric with actual dollars.
Recent work by the City on its new transport strategy has pointed out that the economic growth of the CBD depends on improving the capacity and efficiency of the transport system, and that bike infrastructure is a highly attractive option. More on the proposal here.
Baillieu turns the dial to zero
The 2012 budget papers show that the government has made a deliberate decision to slam the door on Victoria's bike riders.
The foundation of the State's bike infrastructure investment, the VicRoads Bicycle Program, has been slashed to zero. (Some commitments from previous budgets are still trickling through.)
None of the high priority infrastructure projects which were planned for next year have been funded. Desperately needed lanes, signals, intersections and other urgent safety improvements have been dropped.
Dooring fix available
A new study investigating car doorings in Melbourne has found that the problem is highly concentrated on just a few streets and therefore should be fixable.
Remarkably, thirty per cent of all crashes occurred on just four streets—St Kilda Road, Collins Street, Chapel Street and Elizabeth Street.
The most common ten streets represent 47 per cent of all dooring crashes involving bike riders.
20th year jersey revealed
The suspense is over. With great enthusiasm and excitement, we finally present to you your Bupa Around the Bay 2012 commemorative jersey.
Influenced by retro designs, this jersey will be another worthy addition to your collection of riding memorabilia. Ride with pride and be part of 20 years of cycling history.
The bow-tie bows out
After 20 years in the saddle Harry Barber is resigning as CEO of Bicycle Network Victoria and will leave office later this year.
Under his leadership the organisation developed into a powerful force for good, transforming Melbourne, regional Victoria and beyond, stimulating widespread take up of bike riding for recreation and transport.
Mr Barber recognised earlier than most that bike riding had to be shifted from the social fringes to the mainstream if it was to become a central element of day-to-day life.
He campaigned unflaggingly to get more people on bikes, recognising that a more visible presence of riders on the streets would inevitably lead to a breaking down of prejudices, increasing political influence, and the provision of better facilities for riders.
Mr Barber has spent a total of 20 years with the organisation during which it changed from a group that ran great rides, into one of the nation’s most influential community organisations.
Revealed: the Yarra's amazing new bike link
A radically engineered bike and pedestrian link under the Charles Grimes Bridge on the Yarra has been revealed in tender documents released recently. More here.
Gender mix surprise in bike count result
The vigour of Melbourne’s bike riding growth has been confirmed by today’s Super Tuesday bike count showing higher than expected numbers of female riders.
At one count location this morning in Richmond women comprised a surprising 45 per cent of riders, recorded at the corner of Lennox and Elizabeth Street. In Fitzroy the figures were 60:40 male-female.
Women are considered an ‘indicator species’ of the health of the riding environment—the more women who commute by bike, the better the bike facilities. In the top international cycling cities women comprise more than half of all commuting riders. More about Super Tuesday.
Bike cops chase down thief in Ford
Police from Melbourne's Bike Patrol successfully chased and apprehended a driver fleeing through the city who was later found to have stolen goods in his Ford Falcon.
Bike Squad members spotted the black Ford Falcon travelling north on Elizabeth Street, near Therry Street, just before 3pm on Wednesday.
When the car failed to pull over after directed by police, the bike patrol pursued the vehicle along Elizabeth Street. Police observed the vehicle travel through three red lights and on the wrong side of the road.
The bike patrol were participating in Operation HALO prior to trying out for the cycling team for the London Olympics. More here.
The eyewitness that does not lie
Helmet cams are proving invaluable in the battle for bike riders to assert their rights and win justice on Australia's roads.
For too long drivers have been able to dodge their responsibility for crashes with bikes because the bike rider lacked witnesses to the incident.
No longer. As this shocking helmet cam video by rider Scott Kerrison (travelling on Springvale Road in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley) clearly shows, there can be no argument about who is responsible for a crash when the camera is rolling along with the bike. More details here.