Information sheets

End-of-trip facilities for bicycle riders

December 20th 2010

When workplaces and local governments provide quality end-of-trip facilities, they can signiﬁcantly increase returns on public investments in on-road and off-road bicycle facilities. Areas with a high proportion of commuter cyclists also have reduced car parking demands, reduced trafﬁc congestion and improved community health.

The attached information sheet is designed to show why quality end-of-trip facilities are important, and illustrate ways to encourage their development and explain how to stimulate use of these facilities.

Basic Access and Basic Mobility: Meeting Society’s Most Important Transportation Needs

November 29th 2010

This chapter describes the concepts of “Basic Access” and “Basic Mobility,” which refer to transport activities that are considered socially beneficial, and how TDM strategies can help achieve Basic Accessibility.

You can access this Transport Demand Management Encyclopedia article via this link.

The article includes explanations of what constitute 'Basic access' and 'Basic Mobility', and how provisions for these relate to transport planning and management. This include a very useful table comparing various transport modes and their accessibility for various members of society:

Table 1 Suitability of Travel Modes

Mode

Non-Drivers

Poor

Handi-capped

Limitations

Most Appropriate Uses

Walking

Yes

Varies

Requires physical ability. Limited distance and carrying capacity. Difficult or unsafe in some areas.

Short trips by physically able people.

Wheelchair

Yes

Requires sidewalk or path. Limited distance and carrying capacity.

Short urban trips by people with physical disabilities.

Bicycle

Yes

Varies

Requires bicycle and physical ability. Limited distance and carrying capacity.

Short to medium length trips by physically able people on suitable routes.

Taxi

Yes

Limited

Yes

Relatively high cost per mile.

Infrequent trips, short and medium distance trips.

Fixed Route Transit

Yes

Destinations and times limited.

Short to medium distance trips along busy corridors.

Paratransit

Yes

High cost and limited service.

Travel for disabled people.

Auto driver

Limited

Varies

Requires driving ability and automobile. High fixed costs.

Travel by people who can drive and afford an automobile.

Ridesharing

(auto passenger)

Yes

Requires cooperative automobile driver. Consumes driver’s time if a special trip (chauffeuring).

Trips that the driver would take anyway (ridesharing). Occasional special trips (chauffeuring).

Carsharing

(Vehicle Rentals)

Limited

Varies

Requires convenient and affordable vehicle rentals services.

Occasional use by drivers who don’t own an automobile.

Motorcycle

Limited

Requires riding ability and motorcycle. High fixed costs.

Travel by people who can ride and afford a motorcycle.

Telecommute

Yes

Varies

Requires equipment and skill.

Alternative to some types of trips.

myki Information Pack for community groups and organisations

November 3rd 2010

Travellers Aid, ER Victoria and VCOSS have been working in conjunction with the Transport Ticketing Authority to develop an myki information pack. This pack has been developed to assist community groups and organisations better understand the myki system and how their customers and clients will obtain the correct myki and use it in the future.

Organisations, including local governments, can use this information pack as a reference point and general resource for all things myki. The myki information pack answers many questions that organisations have about myki and also provides direction for people looking for further information about myki - including a full list of myki brochures and forms as well as the educational features of the myki.com.au website.

As well as covering off the myki basics (top up, touch on and off) the myki information pack also looks at the various customer groups and the different myki cards they will use. The information pack also covers topics such as the difference between myki money and myki pass and lists the current myki fares and default fares( the fare customer's pay if they don't touch off) amongst other things.

If organisations are looking to contact someone directly regarding the myki information pack, they can contact Tom Betts from the Transport Ticketing Authority on ph: 9651 8036, m: 0407 683 879 or email tom [dot] bettstransport [dot] vic [dot] gov [dot] au.

Sharing the Road with Drivers pamphlette

October 25th 2010

The 'Sharing the Road with Drivers' pamphlette is a useful concise guide for cyclists to help them stay safe when riding on roads.

Impact of the Bus Safety Bill on the Community Transport Sector

October 7th 2010

The Victorian Community Transport Association (VCTA) has developed this fact sheet in response to the Bus Safety Act 2009 which requires stronger safety controls and reporting on bus operations.

They analyse the Act in regard to its impact on the already vulnerable community transport sector, which generally relies on volunteers and grants funding to operate. You can find the presentation via this link, and a policy response is also available.

Shared Path Widths factsheet

September 2nd 2010

Shared paths are off-road facilities for cyclists and pedestrians (including walkers, runners, skateboarders, mobility scooter users, people with pushchairs, etc). Despite the commonness of the shared path, little guidance on its design is currently available in terms of the width of paths in relation to the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists who use the path.

ViaStrada has recently undertaken significant research on behalf of VicRoads, the roading authority for Victoria, Australia, to determine appropriate path widths based on user types and volumes. This factsheet details the investigations, tool development and ultimate conclusions of the research.

VicTrack Rail Maintenance Contact Card 2010

September 2nd 2010

Identifying who is responsible for what in the rail corridor can be confusing and local governments are often the first point of contact for members of the public.

In order to help these officers to deliver the right information promptly, VicTrack has produced the attached card, which contans complete and comprehensive instructions of who is responsible for what, processes to follow and key contacts for each responsible group.

Further resources and information can be found at the VicTrack website.

Drive Smart principals - car efficiency

March 10th 2010

With private vehicles comprising over 70% of transport mode share in Victoria, car efficiency in both vehicle and usage are among the highest priorities.

Research conducted by Environment Victoria demonstrates that drivers can use less petrol to go the same distance, just by making a few simple changes to the way they drive. This reduces carbon emissions and saves drivers money in petrol costs.

A similar major study of ‘eco-driving’ in Europe found that these simple techniques reduced fuel consumption by 10-20 percent, with a maximum of 50 percent savings.

Download Environment Victoria's Drive Smarter Fact Sheet for details of these simple driving efficiency tips.

More information is available via the Environment Victoria website, or contact Murray Irwin on 9341 8121 or murray [dot] irwinenvironmentvictoria [dot] org [dot] au.

Families of the Future: A community centre course to get families cycling

March 4th 2010

The Families of the Future curriculum resource is for running a short course for families on cycling with young children.

27% of car trips in Melbourne are under 2 km in length - a distance which is easy to cover on a bike. Families of the Future was produced to support and enable more families to cycle as an everyday means of transport. Given the significant impact that the percevied dangers of cycling have on mode choice, this resource gives local governments a valuable tool in changing community attitudes to cyclng.

The program was developed and piloted between 2004 and 2006, before being packaged up in 2007 as a resource available for download. It was designed with neighbourhood houses and community centres in mind as possible hosts for the course, and is available for not-for-profit use by anyone.

See the Environment Victoria website for further details, or contact Murray Irwin, on 9341 8121 or murray [dot] irwinenvironmentvictoria [dot] org [dot] au.

Pedalling Fruit Pickers Project Kit: How to start a community food harvesting project

March 4th 2010

The Pedalling Fruit Pickers program kit is based on a project involved teams of volunteers collecting surplus fresh fruit from fruit trees in their neighbourhood, and distributing it by bicycle to members of the community who, for whatever reason, do not have access to fresh food.

This project creates significant environmental and social benefits in the local community while additionally encouraging bicycle use and volunteering. The kit is available free for not-for-profit use and will tell you how to run your own Pedalling Fruit Pickers project.

Pedalling Fruit Pickers was run by Environment Victoria in 2007 and 2008, funded by the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development.

See the Environment Victoria website for further details, or contact Murray Irwin, on 9341 8121 or murray [dot] irwinenvironmentvictoria [dot] org [dot] au.

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