After the first full year of the ACT's "metre matters" trial, cyclist advocacy groups have turned their sights toward safely sharing paths with pedestrians.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Pedal Power ACT will spend 2017 advocating better ways to ensure both cyclists and pedestrians are safer on the city's most popular pathways.
Pedal Power communications manager Anne Treasure said the organisation would push for trials of separate cycling lanes for shared pathways around Lake Burley Griffin, Lake Ginninderra and other popular routes.
"Both pedestrians and cyclists can be unpredictable, as well as dogs and children," Ms Treasure said.
"We think a trial like this could be beneficial to reduce conflict between bike riders and pedestrians."
Segregated bike paths along roads and footpaths are already in place in areas of the city, such as on Allara Street between Constitution Avenue and Glebe Park.
The power-sharing deal between Labor and the Greens to form government included a promise to spend $30 million on cycling and footpath infrastructure.
"We have the promise from them, so now it's a matter of following up and making sure they deliver on those promises," Ms Treasure said.
"We want to see real measures that produce real outcomes."
The government's two year trial of passing distance laws, which require motorists to leave at least a metre of space when overtaking a cyclist, will end in November.
The measure won praise from two-time Australian cycling champion and Canberran Kimberley Wells last week.
Wells said she had noticed a difference in the behaviour of drivers on ACT roads since the trial started, and called for other states to start adopting the measure.
Ms Treasure echoed Wells' sentiments, but said the official crash statistics would better reflect the effect the measures had on behaviour.
"Anecdotally, a lot of our members have been very happy with the rules, and they've noticed a huge change in driver behaviour," she said.
"Of course, there's always going to be a few outliers who don't follow those rules, but on the whole our members have been very happy with the change the rule has made."
In a submission to the 2017-18 ACT budget, Pedal Power called for $120 million worth of investment in cycling infrastructure and programs over the next four years.
The government will announce later in the year whether or not the ;aws will be made permanent.
Prior to the October election, Labor promised to build a bike-only path at Belconnen, between the Canberra Institute of Technology, the town centre, Page and Florey.
The Greens, meanwhile, said they would consider building cycling "hubs" in the city and town centres, which would include "end-of-trip" facilities like bike sheds and showers to encourage more people to ride to work.
Pedal Power plan to hold their annual cordon counts of workers travelling to and from the town centres in February or March.
The 2016 count showed 14 more people rode in and out of the centres than in 2015.
