Move away from a car-dominated city looks radical but it's a sensible plan for a liveable future
- Written by Hussein Dia, Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology
More shared spaces, safer streets and fewer cars in the city are all part of a newly released ten-year plan by the City of Melbourne. This evening, Town Hall will consider the ambitious draft transport strategy that would boost pedestrian, cycling and tram access across the CBD’s Hoddle Grid.
Wikimedia, CC BY-SAA significant amount of on-street parking and road space would be reallocated to walking, cycling and greenery. Some “little” streets would be converted to shared zones that give priority to pedestrians, with reduced speed limits. Variable parking pricing would be trialled and congestion charging not be ruled out.
The strategy recognises the role of technology in delivering community benefits. It supports trials of shared mobility (all types of conveniently accessible rental vehicles) and tech-enabled seamless travel solutions (people using mobility as a service, typically via an app and single payment platform, when they need it).
The result of these digital technology-driven mobility shifts is a lower proportion of people owning vehicles.
Read more: For Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to solve our transport woes, some things need to change
The strategy also foresees transport in the city will be emissions-free by 2050. On-demand travel and deliveries by air could be in the mix of solutions.
Participate Melbourne/Melbourne CityWhile the plan might seem radical, these policies are sensible, comprehensive and crucial to the city’s future. They’re aligned with best practice in leading global cities.
Some cities have far more aggressive policies and emissions reduction targets. Around the world, 15 cities are already starting to ban cars altogether from urban centres.
Melbourne’s transport strategy “refresh” follows a year of reviews and public consultation (you can see the public responses here).
There will be implementation challenges, which the draft strategy acknowledges. It notes the need to provide access for people with disability.
The plan also includes ongoing access for commercial vehicles, delivery vans and emergency services.
Read more: Four ways our cities can cut transport emissions in a hurry: avoid, shift, share and improve
Responding to travel trends
The new strategy recognises that Melburnians’ travel habits have changed and will continue to adapt to modern-day urban living. This includes recent trends towards increased use of public transport and active travel options such as cycling and walking.
Today, walking accounts for about 90% of all travel in the Hoddle Grid, yet pedestrians are allocated only 24% of street space.
Across Melbourne since 2003, the growth in public transport use has been around three times the growth in private transport use. Over this time the growth in car use has been slower than population growth.
Growth in private and public transport passenger kilometres in Melbourne since 2003