The light rail disruption could be an opportunity for southside women to get fitter, Labor MLA Dr Marisa Paterson believes. She is launching Her Way, a campaign around womenโs active travel. Women could change their travel patterns and routines to walk, cycle, or scoot to work, avoiding peak hour traffic.
โWomen are well positioned to make changes to some of the journeys we undertake, to embrace a range of options that will benefit us,โ Dr Paterson said.
During the light rail construction works, parts of Commonwealth Avenue will be closed, traffic density on other roads will increase, and commuting will take 15 minutes longer.
Taking a different route or getting out of the car altogether will make commuting easier and less stressful, Dr Paterson suggests, and relieve pressure and congestion for those people who do need to drive to work.
Cycling gives women much needed and valuable โmeโ time; is an efficient way to incorporate regular, physical activity into daily or weekly routines; and helps mental health and wellbeing and community and social cohesion, Dr Paterson argues. It is also a quicker travel time for short journeys.
She particularly wants to help women who want to transition away from using their cars, but who might be concerned about it, or not know where to start.
โIโm not a bike rider,โ Dr Paterson said. โIโm probably like many other people: Iโd like to; it would be a great thing if I could do it; itโs healthy โ but life gets in the way. I also get concerned about riding on the roads; Iโm not very confident.
โSo I want to speak to similar women who would like to do it, understand what their barriers are, and how we might address that as a government.โ
Her proposal has been welcomed by women cyclists and bike clubs, but the Canberra Liberals say her initiative is out of touch with womenโs needs.
Canberraโs largest cycling organisation, Pedal Power ACT, was 100% behind the initiative, CEO Ian Ross said. โWomen will be significantly and adversely affected by the congestion; solutions that work well for women is a great place to start a dialogue.โ
Ella Bloor, womenโs co-ordinator for the Canberra Cycling Club, agreed with Dr Patersonโs proposal, but did not think it should be restricted to women. โBoth men and women should be getting on their bikes to commute; the more people on bikes, the better โ not just women!โ
Her predecessor, Belinda Chamberlain, thought it was a fantastic idea. โCyclingโs an amazing sport. Itโs for everyone, you can ride at any age, and it really does help with your fitness, clearing your head and getting you outside. Iโm all behind it โ and I know thereโs a lot of girls in Canberra who would be as well.โ
She wryly added: โIt would have been great to have had a huge bike path put where the light rail has been put!โ
Liberal MLA Giulia Jones, however, called Dr Patersonโs campaign โan insult to Canberra womenโ.
ACT Labor, she said, was encouraging women to change their travel behaviour to accommodate their infrastructure project โ even though 60% of women did not feel safe in their neighbourhoods at night. The government was also โincredibly out of touchโ with mums and families who had to drop off and pick up children from school and sport, as well as travel to work.
โIt is rich for a member of this government to suggest that women should change travel habits to accommodate construction that this Labor-Greens government hasnโt adequately planned for,โ Mrs Jones said.
โIf the Labor-Greens Government want more Canberrans using public transport, perhaps they should not have trashed the bus network in 2019, removing easy access to the network for many women.โ
Dr Paterson has published a discussion paper and a survey online, and will talk to Molonglo Valley Community Forum (Thursday 19 August), Weston Creek Community Council (Wednesday 25 August), and Woden Valley Community Council (Wednesday 1 September).
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