Victoria's Active Transport Plan Released
The Victorian Government's Active Transport Plan has been released, see Victoria’s Active Transport Plan - Transport Victoria.
The plan is based on five pillars:
accessibility and inclusion (all Victorians have access to inclusive active transport options that meet the diverse needs of individuals and communities)
places and neighbourhoods (well-designed places and neighbourhoods enable walking and riding that support local connectivity and enhance community liveability)
integrated transport and safe street environments (to enable everyone to walk or ride for short everyday trips)
health and wellbeing (by improving active transport networks, we will provide more opportunities for people to be physically active)
climate response (Victoria is building climate-resilient places and networks that enable people to choose active transport to reduce emissions).
There has been no Ministerial media release or announcement to accompany the Strategy which seems to have been popped onto the website without a fanfare. There was no consultation on the plan conducted through Engage Victoria, which is not the usual practise for the Victorian Government.
Further the Minister’s Forword says that ‘the Active Transport Plan (is) a forward-looking strategy that sets out the actions we’ll take to build a state where walking and riding are not just possible but preferred’. However the plan does not contain actions to be taken. The closest it gets is a few case studies about past actions such as the Level Crossing Removal Projects. By way of comparison, the Victorian Cycling Strategy 2018-25 uses the phrase ‘we will’ 35 times, many of which commit to concrete actions. This plan uses the phrase just six times, none of which are commitments to concrete actions, but rather vague statements of intention. The Plan does not appear to reference the Victorian Cycling Strategy which is the state government’s current blueprint for cycling in the state.
While the Plan states that the Victorian Government will build some projects to align with Big Build projects it is relying on Councils build the rest- with no funding attached in a CPI rate capping environment. Which is pretty patchy way to construct the Victorian Strategy Cycling Corridors and connecting routes. Another example of cost shifting by the Victorian Government.
Interestingly cycling in Darebin is now up to 10% of all weekday trips (VISTA Data). Pre-pandemic it was sitting at about 3%. VISTA data shows an explosion in cycling in Darebin 2025-25. Streets Alive Darebin will be interested to see how the current war in the middle east will impact on the take-up of cycling across Melbourne and the purchase and use of e-bikes.