Dr MARJORIE O'NEILL (Coogee) (17:30:26): Active transport is a key transport mode for the future. Whether it be cycling or walking to work, more and more people are embracing active transport for their daily commute. The people of my electorate of Coogee are passionate about active transport because we know active transport is a critical piece of the transport puzzle and a huge part of the solution to congestion on our roads. The electorate of Coogee has a median age of 35, with a great number of working people who have to head into the city or out of the eastern suburbs every morning for work. In the traffic jam along Alison Road, many of my constituents have had the virtues of active transport instilled in them as they watch cyclists and, indeed, walkers travel past them.
Active transport is a key solution for busting congestion, a crucial player in improving public health and an important part of our greatest challenge: sustainably reducing carbon emissions and addressing our role in climate change. If we can learn something from the truly global cities of the world, it is that active transport and the effective blending of active and public transport are key pillars to creating a flowing city free of congestion and full of healthier people. It is disappointing that the Berejiklian Government does not think the same way as those thought leaders. Rather than investing in cycleways and bike lanes, this Government has actually made it more difficult for people from my electorate to cycle to work.
Recently I received a report put together by BIKEast and Bicycle NSW that details the numerous problems that active commuters in my electorate are facing now that the light rail nears completion. In a meeting with me and the member for Summer Hill and shadow Minister for Active Transport, representatives of both groups walked us through over 25 separate safety hazards cyclists now face on their commute between my electorate and the CBD. Significant safety hazards include cinder blocks and concrete bollards being stored along shared pathways and dedicated cycleways, and exposed wiring on pathways that run alongside light rail stations. Cyclists coming through Randwick need to switch between dedicated cycleways, shared pathways and the open road several times within the space of only one kilometre. Several of those transitions have to be made at acute angles across light rail tracks, often causing wheels to be stuck and cyclists to be thrown from their bikes.
Those representatives told me that their members are unhappy with how their commute has been affected and are nervous for their safety when they need to contend with light rail vehicles and cars along the already crowded roads that lead from my electorate into the city. The groups are crying out for dedicated cycleways. Their mission is to encourage people to leave their cars at home, walk or cycle to work and help to promote an active lifestyle and reduce congestion. Despite these benefits, we are not seeing an increase in cycling numbers because cyclists do not think it is safe to cycle in Sydney. As the member for Summer Hill said in this Chamber, the greatest protection for cyclists is more cyclists. We will achieve this only if we properly invest in the infrastructure that makes cycling safe.
We now have a channel carved through the eastern suburbs for the light rail. This provides the perfect guide rail for a dedicated cycleway that could funnel constituents in Coogee to their workplaces and homes safely and quickly. A forward‑thinking government—one that was invested in better outcomes in health, congestion‑busting and the happiness of people in its State—would be looking to invest significantly in active transport solutions. Both of those local cycling groups are bitterly disappointed by the level of funding allocated to active transport infrastructure.
In actuality, the budgetary commitments to active transport infrastructure make up less than 1 per cent of the State's $73 billion budget for infrastructure over the next four years. During the 2019 State election campaign, the Liberal-Nationals Government promised to increase funding from $147 million to a total of $330 million over the next five years for the expansion of the active transport program, including funding for eastern suburbs cycleways. Despite the Government's promises, the 2019‑20 budget has allocated only an additional $16.8 million for the program—far short of the average of $36.6 million per year needed to meet the amount promised by the Government. Randwick City Council has applied for two grants for separated cycleways and both have been rejected.
People want to be healthy. They want to belong to and feel part of a community. They want to lower emissions and they want to do their bit to make a better world. Solutions to these problems exist but are being ignored. The Government is about to bring online a major piece of public transport infrastructure and has made no attempt to leverage this new commuter corridor to encourage cycling from the eastern suburbs. It has made no attempt to integrate the light rail with active transport in order to create usable and efficient intermodal transport hubs. It has made no attempt to ensure that light rail supports active transport; rather, it has created dangerous disincentives. We all know that congestion is bad in Sydney. We know that effective moulding of active and public transport infrastructure is the future. Now is the time to invest in active transport, invest in the future of our city and its commuters and transform Sydney into a global city once again.
