Kingston pop-up cycleway trial aims to better protect cyclists pedalling on our roads

Cyclists have to also realise that not everyone can ride a bike or don’t have a use for one, right?

Nor can everyone drive a car “or don’t have use for one”.
At least, not at the rego/upkeep/fuel cost/parking cost etc etc price point.
Bonus points, if you’re distracted on a bike by phone etc you prang and look like a twat but you don’t wipe out a family of 5 in oncoming traffic.

Sure, pushing for infrastructure can seem like pandering, but it’s extremely cheap infrastructure. Don’t need to resurface every 5 years, don’t have to use 30 tonne machines to grade, compact, and level it all.

It’s cheap. Concerns remain about people being entitled clowns, but in the scheme of things that’s still not the worst possibility.

Agree that bicycles and scooters should be registered and have identification such as number plates in case of accidents. However the costs of this should be low, as the damage they cause to roads (and thus the cost of repairs) is tiny in comparison to cars, utes, 4 wheel drives and trucks etc.

They should also be insured as they can and do harm others on occasion and those injured need access to costs and compensation.

Never. Every scheme introduced has failed and been stopped, bar North Korea. They never stack up on cost/benefit grounds. They work for motor vehicles because of the much greater harm motor vehicles cause.

Agreed – I love seeing so many people out and about in the Triangle on the weekends, but it definitely makes it hard to manage the conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians. This additional path seems like a very good idea.

Such a dumb idea. Would cost a tonne to implement, would discourage active transport which reduces congestion and improves health and provide little, if any, positive outcomes.

Bike riders in particular (and active transport users in general) already pay their way and are a relatively lower societal cost group than in-active transport users.
Point 1: Roads are by definition for the conveyance of people, goods and services and predate cars (and all motorised transport) by several millennia.
Point 2: The sealing of Australian roads also predates motorised transport and was to make them more usable by active transport users.
Point 3: Most adult bike riders own, register and insure at least one motorised vehicle and many also insure themselves and their bicycles.
Point 4: Registration fees don’t even cover the cost of the registration process, with the provision and maintenance of road infrastructure paid for by the whole community out of consolidated revenue from all taxes across the whole economy.
Point 5: Frequent use of active transport increases the health and well being of users and thereby reduces the health costs associated with them throughout their lives.
We are paying our way.
Are you?

Modern roads are based around motorised transport because it’s the best transport for people, goods and services over many scales. Bicycles predate cars by only a few decades. All but a very small fraction of road sealing in Australia was undertaken for motorised transport.

Fuel tax was established with the express purpose of funding transport expenditure regardless of the actual revenue structure which exists due to constitutional reasons. Since only 50-60% actually goes to transport – including heavy vehicles and rail, this means motorists are subsidising non-motorists. The tax structure could be changed but taxes elsewhere would have to rise. Registration fees do cover the process – renewals are just updating a database. Bicyclists do not pay for themselves – there is no revenue greeted while non-bicyclists also pay various taxes that fund projects for them.

Australia has a longer life expectancy than the supposedly wonderful European countries. Active transport is not an important factor on a country level. And motorists cover a large proportion of their costs through mandated insurance programs. Don’t get me started on the various modelling exercises that are just ideology projections.

I already pay registration for my two cars, and caravan, plus have insurance. Importantly, I already pay taxes etc which is what actually pays for the transport system, roads etc. I love riding bicycles too, and the more people ride bikes the better off we will all be as a community.

The more bike lanes and cycling infrastructure that we have, then the more people ride bikes. which would be great.

Mbnast, you’ve really got to learn to let go mate. Your picayune ponderings really are embarrassing to read.