CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES John Bartels, City of Port Phillip and Ainsley Nigro, GHD Cost Benefit Analysis for Implementing Separated Bike Lanes Along St Kilda Road

Page 2 Introduction We will cover: Why did Council commission a Cost Benefit Analysis? What do we mean by separated bike lanes? What was the methodology and findings? What are some of the learnings? Where to from here? CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 Why? Why did Council commission a Cost Benefit Analysis? Policy settings – STS, Bike Plan , Responding to Challenges Community feedback and input – Existing conditions Data – Use and reported bike collisions CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Why? Why did Council commission a Cost Benefit Analysis? Page 2 CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES Council’s Vision: ‘A Connected and Liveable City’ = Improving our travel choices

Page 2 Why? Why did Council commission a Cost Benefit Analysis CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES St Kilda Rd

Page 2 Why? Why did Council commission a Cost Benefit Analysis CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES St Kilda Rd – Most avoided road

Page 2 Why? CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 What? What are we talking about? Where are we talking about? There are already bike lanes there? CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 What? What are we talking about? What do we mean by separated bike lanes? CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES Source: City of Melbourne

Page 2 What? What was the methodology? GHD was engaged to undertake an economic appraisal of the proposed project, using the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach. The methodology is consistent with the Department of Treasury and Finance Economic Evaluation Technical guidelines. CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 What? What was the methodology? Benefits and costs were based on factors such as: –Increased growth in bike numbers (over and above current levels) –Perceived mode shift towards bike riding –Reduction of bike related crashes –Infrastructure CAPEX and OPEX costs. CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 What? What were the findings? The BCR of the project was greater than 1.0, indicating positive net economic benefits to society. The positive BCR is directly attributable to savings in crash costs and increased health benefits to bike riders. CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 What? What were the findings? The analysis was based on assumed 25% growth in bike numbers. A number of sensitivity tests were undertaken, the BCR was greater than 1.0 in all instances. CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 What? What are some of the learnings? Although logical that an increase in bikes would lead to an increase in benefits, the increase in bikes actually leads to an overall net increase in total vehicles along the route, increasing total Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC) and travel costs. Although total bike VOC is less than that of cars, buses and trams, the increase from bike numbers leads to an increase in bike associated VOC. CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 How? Where to from here? A strategic model is required in order to quantify the net decline in total car and public transport patronage. Traffic signal phasing and bike rider/tram travel speed timing and synchronisation could reduce travel times, however due to competing demand from cars, trams, buses and bikes, possible signal optimisation would need to be assessed for road user impacts. CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 How? Where to from here? Incremental environmental impacts from bikes assumed to be zero, however environmental impact from bike lane construction to be further considered. CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 How? How has City of Port Phillip used the Cost-Benefit Analysis? CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES

Page 2 How? Where to from here? CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES WE ARE HERE 2016/17

Page 2 Where to from here? Influencing Policy Settings Knowledge Policy development CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES Source: SFMTA

Page 2 Thank you and Questions CREATING THE CASE FOR MORE TRAVEL CHOICES