Tuesday, 7 June 2022

 Mr HIBBINS (Prahran) (12:50): I have been so impressed how the cycling community has come together to urge Melbourne City Council to continue, not delay, their rollout of safe bike infrastructure throughout the CBD. We are in a climate crisis. Transport is Victoria’s fastest growing source of emissions. We need massive investment in active transport, like separated bike lanes, from all levels of government to cut emissions, to keep people healthy, to help people save money at a time when fuel prices are skyrocketing, to make it easier to get around and to make riding a bike safe for everyone. Melbourne City Council has been doing some great work rolling out safe separated bike lanes—leading the state in fact—as have many cities around the world in response to more people riding their bikes. I urge—as does the cycling community—Melbourne City Council tonight to continue their plans to roll out safe bike infrastructure across the city.

To the critics: they clearly do not remember what it was like to drive down Exhibition Street prior to the installation of bike lanes, prior to COVID—hardly a dream run, was it? They clearly did not ride their bikes down Exhibition Street before—an entry point to the CBD of major bike routes. Having to weave in and out of traffic during peak hour was completely unacceptable. This is just where they are required. The fact is we need a network, hundreds of kilometres, of separated bike lanes rolled out across the entire metropolitan Melbourne area.