Darebin Council, in Melbourne’s north, has launched a Transport Plan which is the first in Melbourne to spell out that trams, pedestrians and cyclists will take priority over cars and trucks on major roads. The strategy seeks to “decrease the attractiveness of the car through reduced priority and other travel demand management techniques”. Cars travelling through the suburbs will be channelled into “strategic corridors” away from the major shopping strips.

The plan would ultimately result in removal of clearways on some roads, in a bid to discourage drivers, which may put the council in conflict with VicRoads which has so far not indicated whether it would support such a strategy.  Allowance of bicycles on trams and buses has also been put forward by the plan, which is a contentious issue given the Victorian Government’s recent abandoned attempt to ban bikes from trains during peak hours.

The committee guiding the plan included a VicRoads Director and the Government’s Public Transport Director and was launched by the Public Transport Minister, Lynne Kosky, who said the strategy would “set the wheels in motion” for future transport initiatives. Other councils across Melbourne are working with VicRoads on similar transport plans.

In addition the provincial city of Bendigo has launched a more revolutionary scheme based on the “shared space” approach pioneered by Dutch urban designer Hans Monderman. His philosophy of creating “naked streets” where all visual signs that streets are for cars first and walkers and cyclists second are removed and the space for cars is narrowed, returning the streets to walkers and cyclists, has slowly gained acceptance in Europe, Britain and the US.