2016-05-04
Turnbull fails to get wheels turning on bike funding
Turnbull has let down people who ride bikes - or who want to ride bikes - with nothing in the federal budget for cycling.
“We hear a lot of talk from the Prime Minister about smart cities, but he has provided nothing for the smart transport option of bikes, which gets us out of traffic, reduces pollution and makes us healthier,” said the Australian Greens transport spokesperson Senator Janet Rice.
“We all know about our congestion woes, but trying to fix congestion by building more roads is like loosening your belt to cure obesity – car use will inevitably expand to fill the space.
“A better budget would diversify people’s travel options. Instead we’ve seen an Abbott-like addiction to toll roads, with the majority of transport funding going to building new roads.
“Half of the car trips in our capital cities are less than five kilometres, which is easily doable on a bike. All we need is the right infrastructure to make these journeys quick, safe and easy.
“To realise these benefits, we need genuine political commitment and leadership, and this Budget hasn’t shown that.
“The Prime Minister can’t leave the creation of connected, healthy towns and cities to state and local governments alone. This leads to many areas simply missing out because of lack of funds, inefficiencies, and projects ending at council borders.
“It’s such a disappointment that Turnbull has squibbed his chance to make a national commitment to bike infrastructure, as we have had for other transport like roads, rail and shipping,” said Senator Rice.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sam Drummond 0400 352 935