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The ultimate goal of the 2009 Victorian Cycling
Strategy was to ‘grow’ cycling into a major form of personal
transport. The audit assessed the effectiveness of the
Department of Transport and VicRoads in developing cycling as a
safe and appealing mode of transport.
The strategy was a first, important step for
Victoria to significantly raise the profile and role of cycling as
part of a more sustainable transport system. The strategy created a
logical framework for action and formed the basis for increased
investment in cycling infrastructure. However, serious limitations
in its development and implementation compromised its potential to
achieve its goal.
The strategy was developed in haste without
sufficient understanding of either current cycling journeys or what
was required to ‘mainstream’ cycling as a form of transport. There
was an overemphasis on physical infrastructure solutions, to the
relative neglect of other measures essential to achieving the
strategy’s goal, such as promoting cycling, educating potential
cyclists and reducing the incentives to use cars.
In addition, agencies were not well prepared
to implement the strategy or evaluate its success, and this
contributed to the unsatisfactory progress in addressing its
limitations. This lack of preparation repeats past audit findings
about the department’s freight management strategy and metropolitan
bus contracts.
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