Councillor Ryan Posselt's Talking Points on Collins St. Discourse

Hobart City Councillor, Paramedic and Cycling South Chair - Ryan Posselt - provides his thoughts on Collins Street.

It’s a new year, and it hasn’t taken long for bike lanes to appear in public discourse, kicking off in the third week of January with conservative politicians questioning their implementation in Hobart. I find it remarkable that such small changes cause such consternation. In fact, conservative Alderman and State politicians wish to make 2 blocks of bike lane on Collins street the primary focus for a year of City business, and cost ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process. All over two blocks of bike lane!

What is most perplexing about this is that I’ve not met a transport planner who doesn’t vehemently support the strategic introduction of protected bike lanes in Hobart. And that isn’t surprising recognising that we can’t build more roads in the inner city, and that vehicle movements through the city are restricted by Macquarie and Davey Streets which are already overwhelmed at peak hour.

If we can’t build more roads, how can we move more people in the same space? The answer is simple, and it's why cities all over the world are changing their approach. We must encourage people to take alternative forms of transport, so that those who must drive such as trades, emergency and essential services can get from A to B faster.

So why are conservatives so intent on making such a big deal of this? Why, in the face of evidence and expert advice, do they insist on waging a war on people trying to move from A to B; people going to work, parents dropping their kids at school and people visiting our city’s businesses? If I had a dollar for every time I head a conservative say “I support bike lanes but…”

A lot of the campaigning comes from misunderstanding the evidence. There is a fear that bike lanes will reduce trade for businesses. Yet, the evidence is overwhelming that business is either unaffected or that trade increases when bike lanes are installed. Surprisingly, evidence around curbside parking suggests an abundance of parking has the opposite effect. Businesses who have curbside parking immediately outside are likely to experience lower trade and lower footfall, which leads to building owners experiencing higher vacancy rates and having to charge lower commercial rents.

At first it doesn’t make sense, but then you think about it and you realise that pedestrian malls command the highest rent and have the lowest vacancies. The reason is simple: pedestrian malls attract high numbers of people who pass through and tend to stay longer, and that is the golden goose for business. People spend money, empty cars do not.

Another cause of campaigning against bike lanes is the narrative that business equates to retail, and that our CBD is equivalent to a shopping centre. I have even heard pro-business Alderman condemn UTAS for trying to move to the CBD because the CBD is for shopping and business. They fail to recognise that the majority of people in the CBD are not working in retail or undertaking retail and that retailers and hospitality benefit daily from people who work in the CBD. When large organisations choose to move to our CBD, traders win.

If you didn’t know, the largest employer in the city is the Hospital and the other large employers are mostly public services. These workers are rarely provided with parking, and many understand how active transport impacts on long term health outcomes. Maybe that’s why the highest predictor of support for bike lanes is a tertiary qualification.

But it's not only public services, there are many office workers in the CBD who are not provided with the luxury of parking at work. This means that a CBD is a lot more difficult to manage compared to a shopping centre because there are competing demands. Conservatives running arguments that retail is not adequately considered in these debates are not considering our nurses and doctors or anyone who works in an office in the CBD when they make these claims.

Conservatives are failing to recognise that we are in a climate emergency and we know 60% of Hobart’s emissions are transport related. If we are serious about climate change, we have to act and anyone who believes in climate change should support bike lanes which in-turn have been shown to increase take up of the most efficient form of transport: cycling. Again in the face of evidence from experts, which say we must act now to prevent ecological collapse, conservatives think they know better.

I’m looking forward to seeing councils all over Greater Hobart invest in safe cycling infrastructure in coming years. Connecting protected networks to provide an attractive transport alternative. An alternative that will keep you healthier, make you happier and decrease your carbon footprint the more you use it. What’s not to love.

Reposted with permission from Ryan Posselt.

Ryan Posselt chairs the Hobart Council Transport Committee and Cycling South.

[Streets People Love - Hobart want to make clear that walking and cycling is not a right or left wing issue, and people on both sides of the political spectrum have opinions. However, there is currently a Progressive-Conservative split in Council on most issues regarding urban upgrades]