With the ACT Election four months away, Canberra Daily is asking organisations around Canberra for their perspectives on key issues, the ACT Government’s accomplishments, and what an incoming government should focus on. 

Dr Simon Copland is executive director of Pedal Power ACT, Canberra’s largest cycling organisation. Its vision is for Canberra to become the cycling capital of Australia, and its mission is to advance the health and wellbeing of our community through the promotion of the safe and convenient use of bicycles and other pedal-powered vehicles. Dr Copland is a keen recreational cycler, and is passionate about making Canberra more accessible and sustainable. He has a PhD in men’s rights and violent extremism, and a background as a writer and advocate.

What do you regard as the ACT Government’s successes in the current term?

The ACT Government has released the Active Travel Plan and Draft Design Guide, which are both really important documents. The active travel plan outlines some really commendable goals on active travel, and the design guide sets a clear framework for how infrastructure should be developed into the future for the benefit of active travel.

We’ve also seen some important progress on key active travel projects, including the completion of the Belconnen Bikeway, the construction of the Bowen Drive pop-up lane, and the design of the Garden City Cycle route (although construction is still yet to start). We’ve also seen an increase in funding on path maintenance, which is a positive step.

What could have been handled better – or left aside?      

While the ACT Government has amped up its rhetoric on active travel, we are not seeing real delivery. While the active travel plan has some great goals, there is no implementation plan, no targets, and no real money put behind it. It has the potential to be a wish list that will never actually be delivered.

Delivery of active travel projects has also been excruciatingly slow. While the Government has built a pop-up lane on Bowen Drive, for example, it took over a year for this to be designed and then built. This is the kind of infrastructure that other cities have often installed literally overnight. Other projects are currently languishing, and the Government is refusing to even consider essential infrastructure such as a separated bike lane on Northbourne Avenue. While we’ve seen an increased budget for path maintenance, there is still a huge backlog of defects that need to be fixed and upgrades that need to happen all around the city.

All of this is happening while the Government still pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into road duplications, despite the evidence that clearly these do nothing to reduce congestion. While the Government is talking up the benefits of active travel, they are not backing this up with real investment.

What do you see as the major issues that an incoming government will have to deal with?

Transport is a major issue for any future Government. Transport now accounts for over 60 per cent of Canberra’s carbon emissions, and we are seeing growing congestion on our roads. This has impacts on people’s health – both physical and mental.

We cannot solve this problem with more or different cars. This will just further congestion problems. The challenge for any future Government therefore is how to encourage real mode shifts – that is, how can we make it easier and safer for people to ride, walk, or catch public transport to their destinations? There are lots of great examples of Governments doing this around the world, so there is no lack of templates we can follow. It is not an impossible task. The challenge is having a Government willing to use real political courage to make it happen.

What should the government’s priorities be? What policy initiatives or reforms might be useful to meet the challenges ahead?

Pedal Power is advocating for five key priorities. Any future Government should:  

• Invest real money into building and maintaining an active travel network in Canberra.
• Create pedestrian and cycling friendly neighbourhoods.
• Invest in recreational cycling.
• Build a highly connected, diverse, medium density, city.
• Support transport community organisations.