Workshop ENV 1,  Monday 19 June 16.00 - 17.30

The link between environmental policy and bicycle planning

Alan Parker, Australia The Vital Link Between Bicycle Planning and National Environmental Planning Transport plans for Australia¹s major cities all claim to produce sustainable outcomes when reliable data show a robust trend of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Since the mid 1970s there have been increasing levels of unsustainable motorization and the decline of the more sustainable forms of transport. The most dominant trend is the growing proportion of Australian working women who drive instead of using more sustainable modes. Studies by criminologists show that most women perceive that the more sustainable modes are not a safe way to travel, and there is only one female bicycle commuter for every four males. Data shows that since 1989, vehicle dependence of the Dutch was constrained and public transport increased to a targeted level by the implementation of the Netherlands National Environment and Policy Plans. 'Child safe' residential precinct planning and a high level of investment in bicycle infrastructure from 1975 have also made non-motorized travel safer, and as many people walk as they did 20 years ago; bicycle use has increased and more women now cycle than men. When the Dutch and Australian urban car fleet's carbon dioxide and pollutant emissions are compared, the former are far less polluting and far more fuel-efficient. The Dutch experience shows what can be done with funding, tax and policy changes by all levels of government. Unless ecologically sustainable development (ESD) becomes the preferred form of nation building and adopted by Australia, then unsustainable levels of motorization will continue to increase. Sustainable tax and other policy measures are recommended for Australia to supplement the National Greenhouse Strategy, the National Bicycle Strategy and most important of all to pave the way to ESD.

Tim Asperges, Project coordinator BYPAD, Langzaam Verkeer, Belgium The link between environmental policy and bicycle planning, BYPAD (BicYcle Policy AuDit) 1. What is the BYPAD-project? BYPAD stands for BicYcle Policy AuDit and is a European research project from the SAVE II program from the Directorate General TREN (Transport and Energy).  The BYPAD project runs from September 1999 till March 2001 and is carried out by Langzaam Verkeer (Belgium), the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) and the Austrian Mobility Research (AMOR). 2. Aims and Novelty of the project BYPAD's aim is to develop a bicycle policy audit instrument that enables cities to evaluate the quality of their present bicycle policy and that advises the cities in which fields they have to improve their future bicycle policy.  The study combines existing knowledge on bicycle measures with knowledge from the auditing field.  The bicycle policy will be screened through an adapted EFQM-model (European Foundation For Quality Management).  This self-evaluating auditing instrument has already been used for many years in large (production) companies. The last years also service organisations and public bodies got interested.  In BYPAD the quality of the bicycle policy will be screened in 7 European cities. All these cities will get a score (level of development) concerning their bicycle policy.  Thus BYPAD is a benchmarking tool that enables cities to learn from each other.  3. Target group and content presentation BYPAD will lead to guidelines for an audit on urban bicycle policy. This tool can be used continuously by urban authorities or by organisations to assess the urban bicycle policy.  In the BYPAD presentation we give an overview of the global approach of BYPAD, illustrated by the experiences in test-city Gent.

Karla Schoeters, European Climate Network, Belgium The link between environmental policy and bicycle planning