No matter how you choose to travel about in Whitehorse, we’d like to know your views. To reward you for taking the time, we’ve arranged with some local traders to offer a range of prizes which we’ll randomly award to some lucky survey participants.
The survey closes on December 15th 2023 when the prizes will be drawn.Winners notified by email
NOTE: Several articles in this newsletter are repeated from previous newsletters – some with updates. We think the messages in these articles are very important, and need repeating. AND…very unfortunately, we’ll probably have to repeat these messages again in the future!
Well done WeRide Australia on producing such a comprehensive report and to the many who gave a 👍to the report.
To me, the report highlights two things, which many who advocate active travel instead of car use seem to overlook, and it also misses out on mentioning the important the value of walking! Ben Rossiter of Victoria Walks might comment here!
The use of a bicycle by 6.5 million adults who cycle, created over 58,000 jobs (FTE) and made a $16.9 billion total contribution to the economy; avoided 2.2 million kg air pollutants; and added $1.9 billion direct output to cycle tourism nationally. In other words a very positive outcome for the community.
Whilst 3.6 million adults used an e-scooter and this made a $728 million total contribution, this was mainly NOT a contribution to community benefit but to the profits of e-scooter companies.
Any observer of e-scooter use in Melbourne could not fail to notice that whilst some trips are for car-replacement commuter purposes, a very high proportion are pleasure riders wanting a new and exciting way to have some fun.
Unlike use of a bicycle or walking, use of an e-scooter does nothing towards health benefits except a negative one from increased use of casualty resources.
And since most e-scooter journeys are NOT car replacement ones, there is no environmental benefit.
The negative effects of e-scooter use on footpaths and shared cycle routes as far the effects on pedestrians, disabled and cyclists need to be emphasised too.
I acknowledge that e-scooter journeys for genuine commuting can be beneficial for the community overall.
But unless more comprehensive studies of e-scooter use that do not simply look at number of journeys are conducted, I will remain totally skeptical about the supposed societal benefits, and cynical about the e-scooter companies profit-chasing motives.
Very unfortunately it is similar to the sales pitch of the the e-cigarette and vape companies a few years ago. Something good for their profit was sold to us all as a positive community benefit. The authorities and community at large bought their sales pitch.
Once again we’re having the annual WATAG Christmas get-together at Blackburn Lake Visitor Centre in the delightful courtyard.
You’re invited to come along and join us.
Bring the family, bring your friends. Blackburn Lake is a great place for kids to have fun, to have a stroll before socialising, or to sit and have a chat (and sip of some cheer too if you like!)
EVERYONE is invited – It’s a Community Chat event.
When?
Wednesday 6th December 2023 6:00pm (or come later if it suits) – until the party is over!
Where?
Blackburn Lake Visitors Centre Courtyard Central Rd Blackburn 3130
Bring food and drink to share but please bring all your own crockery, cutlery, glasses Note: There’s a BBQ adjacent to the Visitors Centre, so bring your meat & BBQ utensils if you like.
Its FREE but please RSVP if you can. REMEMBER BYO EVERYTHING.
The WATAG Committee looks forward to saying helloand maybe sharing a Christmas tipple with you!
We build aggressive vehicles We market them recklessly We celebrate dangerous driving We design violent streets We prioritize the driver at all costs We shame and blame everyone else.
Road violence is no accident it’s a direct result of our choices.
Here’s a relatively new term you might not have come across: Vehicle-to-everything (V2X). It refers to the communication between a vehicle and any other entity that may affect, or may be affected by, the vehicle. Check this Wikipedia link for the full technical details. Phew!
The main motivations for V2X are said to be road safety, energy savings, traffic efficiency, and … mass surveillance!
A German bicycle manufacturer, is working on equipping its high-end e-bikes with proximity beacons to improve cyclist safety on the roads. The aim is to enable sensor-equipped vehicles to detect V2X-equipped bicycles, potentially preventing accidents.
Peter Norton, Associate Professor of History in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia says:
“In theory, V2X technology allows sensor-equipped motor vehicles to know in advance there’s a V2X-equipped bike nearby…
“Beacons may increase the risk for cyclists because, if they give drivers the message that the car is watching out for cyclists, but the car is actually not doing that particularly well, then we make the situation for cyclists more dangerous…
“If bicyclists must ride with Radio Frequency Identification beacons—or similar—the logical next step is for pedestrians to also sport RFID technology…
“The auto industry is interested in getting pedestrians and cyclists to transmit real-time location information because it’s perhaps the only way AVs (autonomous vehicles) can operate in dense cities…
“What about children too young for smartphones? Should a transponder be placed in an item of clothing instead? What if the child ran outside without wearing their beaconised baseball cap?…
“If the beacon always needed to be on the person, logically, that means it would have to be embedded in the body: are we ready for chipping all humans?”
“If the tech turns out to actually make cycling safer for those who have it, but more dangerous for those who don’t, does that become grounds in policy for requiring all cyclists to have the necessary equipment for cars to detect them? If that’s so, then we now have problems about access to cycling among those with low budgets, or deterring cycling in a society where we need more, not less for lots of reasons, including sustainability and public health”
Legendary Transport Writer, Carlton Reid recently wrote an article in Forbes (https://tinyurl.com/bdevhur9) noting that whilst V2X technology has been deployed successfully in street furniture in some places, the application on cyclists is controversial as it may pose risks to those without beacons, leading to concerns about exclusivity and discrimination. Because only beacon-equipped individuals would be detected, there may be potential blaming of non-equipped cyclists for accidents.
Anna Gurnhill, iconic cultural geographer based in Canberra commented:
“Whoa! While I get the merit of the proposal, there’s some really interesting food for thought in this article. My simplified response – we really need to reduce the number of cars on our roads by making active and public transport a reality. By ‘reality’, I mean all the enabling policy, regulations, incentives, infrastructure, cultural change, urban planning and more.”
Chips with that?
And what about the potential need for beacons leading to chips being embedded in the body? A pretty big ethical dilemma!
In conclusion, the use of V2X technology on bicycles may enhance cyclist safety in some circumstances, but it also poses challenges related to exclusivity, privacy, and accessibility. While proponents see it as a step towards a safer future, critics fear that it could lead to discrimination against unequipped cyclists and pedestrians, undermining the goal of inclusive and sustainable transportation.
And it concerns me that this is another technical “fix” to enable the auto companies’ dream for continued sales by moving into AI controlled self-driving vehicles (AVs) that need this kind of technology to be introduced to enable their dream to come true.
Instead…maybe we simply need to follow Anna’s advice and have much greater concentration on active transport, leading to fewer cars and safer roads.
Whitehorse is on the Traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people. We acknowledge them as Traditional Owners and respect their Elders for the way they cared for the land in our area for millennia.
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