Skip to main content

Melbourne fast-tracks 40km of new bike lanes

Australian city binned its bike-share scheme but is now making more space for two wheels
By Adam Hill June 17, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
The Melbourne bike-share scheme was scrapped last year, but the city is still keen on bikes (© Rafael Ben Ari | Dreamstime.com)

The City of Melbourne is making more space on its roads for bicycles, adding 40km of dedicated bike lanes to its road network. 

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said they would be 'adaptable', which means they "can be constructed and installed more quickly".

The city, which scrapped its own bike-share scheme last year, said lanes will be built in two stages, with the first 20km in 2020-21 via a $16 million investment.

The new routes are part of the Australian city's Transport Strategy 2030, which sets out a 10-year plan to become a "premier cycling city with a network of protected cycling lanes and intersections, lots of bike parking and facilities for cyclists".

"We've seen other leading cities around the world such as Paris, London and Milan successfully integrate cycling as a key mode of transport to reduce congestion and accommodate growth," said councillor Nicolas Frances Gilley, transport portfolio chair.

"We will use plastics, rubber and recycled materials than can be installed quickly so we can accelerate bike lane delivery. The infrastructure we install will be functional for years to come and can be progressively replaced with fixed lanes over time as required."

The authorities have carried out research which suggests that it is essential to create physical protection from motor vehicles if people are to have the confidence to ride in the city centre.

The first priority routes include:

Exhibition Street stage one (Flinders Street to Bourke Street)
Rathdowne Street (Victoria Street to Faraday Street)
William Street (Dudley Street to Flinders Street)
Abbotsford Street (Flemington Road to Queensberry Street)
Swanston Street (around the University of Melbourne from Grattan Street to Cemetery Road).

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Going the distance
    February 27, 2012
    Back in 1982, the TV series Knight Rider was first aired.
  • Is road user charging the first stop for congestion management?
    July 23, 2012
    David Hytch, Information Systems Director at the Greater Manchester Public Transport Executive, considers just where congestion pricing schemes should sit in transport planners' hierarchy of options for managing demand. On the face of it, Greater Manchester in England's proposed congestion charging scheme hit just about every sweet spot possible when it came to convincing the general public of the need for and benefits of such a venture. There was the promise from national government of almost £3bn-worth of
  • Future of US cooperative infrastructure networks
    July 31, 2012
    Peter H. Appel, the new Administrator of the USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, on his vision of the US's future cooperative infrastructure networks. Peter H. Appel comes to the post of Administrator of the US Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) from a background in transportation-related work which stretches back over 20 years. Most recently with management consultancy A. T. Kearney, Inc., where he focused on busin
  • Q&A: Datacard Group
    November 4, 2014
    Melissa Prosen, director of brand and communications for Datacard Group, tells CARTES Daily News about the acquisition of Entrust, future roadmaps and the Internet of Things