The Australia Institute has released a report into active transport that calls for 10% of federal road funding to go to bike riding, scooting and walking.
The report Proactive investment: policies to increase rates of active transportation finds that less than 1% of current funding goes to active transport.
A poll conducted by the institute found that 76% of respondents supported more footpaths and bike riding paths and there was also high support for policies to encourage more people to ride.
The report proposes three areas where the governments could turn around low active transport rates by investing more money.
- Improving infrastructure
- Introducing legislation to allow e-scooters and the like
- Paying people to buy and use bicycles and e-bikes.
There was support for an array of policies and programs that could be enacted to get more people riding:
- 63% supported the trade-in of petrol and diesel cars for e-bikes and public transport tickets
- 62% supported a pay-to-cycle-to-work scheme
- 60% supported government e-bike subsidies
- 52% supported electric vehicle subsidies being to extended to e-bikes.
Expenditure by all levels of governments on roads in 2021–22 was $35 billion and, while some new and upgraded roads will also get bike lanes and paths, the spending is primarily for passenger and freight transport.
The federal government’s recently announced $100 million active transport grants program will be spent over four years and represents just 0.3% of what the government spends on roads.
The report points out that the federal government foregoes $250 million each year because it allows a luxury car tax exemption for oversized utes – money that could be spent on active transport.
Recommendations in the report to improve government intervention to increase active transport include:
- Ensure transport and road legislation includes requirements for active transport infrastructure.
- Make infrastructure safer to encourage more use of active transport and public transport.
- Legalise private e-scooters in all states and territories, with supporting rules, regulations, and infrastructure requirements.
- Introduce a per kilometre ride-to-work allowance.
- Introduce a scheme that would allow people to trade in their old car in exchange for a rebate on an e-bike or public transport tickets.
- The federal government introduce a national subsidy scheme for the purchase of bicycles and e-bikes.
- Apply current similar EV subsidies and incentives to e-bikes.
- Governments at the state, territory and commonwealth level increase funding for active transportation to the equivalent of at least 10% of road-related expenditure.
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