Walking and Transport in Melbourne Suburbs
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Walking and transport in Melbourne suburbs Supported by: This report was prepared by Josephine Eady and The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance Duane Burtt, Victoria Walks. of the following people in preparing this report: Victoria Walks Inc is a walking health promotion charity Anita Donnelly, City of Port Phillip working to get more Victorians walking more every Ben Rossiter, Victoria Walks day. Our vision is people walk whenever and wherever Cameron Munro, CDM Research possible, within strong and vibrant communities, with Craig McLean, City of Port Phillip resulting health benefits. Victoria Walks is supported by VicHealth. David Vial, IOSS Karl Sass, City of Ballarat © Victoria Walks Inc. Registration No. A0052693U Kate Simnett, Maribyrnong City Council Level 7, 225 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Kathleen Kemp, City of Port Phillip P: 03 9662 3975 Kylie Legge, Place Score E: [email protected] Mike Ruzzene, Urban Enterprise www.victoriawalks.org.au Tuesday Udell, Heart Foundation Victoria Walks would also like to acknowledge the Victorian Department of Transport for advice and use This publication is copyright. No part may be of the VISTA data. reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. ISBN-13: 978-0-6480502-6-1 Recommended citation Eady, J and Burtt, D (2019). Walking and transport in Melbourne suburbs. Victoria Walks, Melbourne, November 2019. Table of Contents Executive summary .......................................................... 2 Length of time at local shops ......................................32 Walking in the transport system ....................................2 Spend by mode ..........................................................33 Perceptions of how people travel ...............................33 Walking and public transport ........................................3 Travel to shops and services ........................................3 Attributes people value in public space .....................35 Travel to suburban centres ...........................................4 Northcote Shopping Centre ........................................35 Recommendations ........................................................... 5 Sydney Road, Brunswick and Coburg .......................35 Recommendations to facilitate walking ........................5 South Melbourne .........................................................35 Recommendations for activity centres and Place Score .................................................................35 train stations ..................................................................5 Allocation of public space ..........................................37 Data related recommendations ....................................5 Design of shopping areas .............................................. 39 Introduction .......................................................................6 Case study – Acland Street Benefits of walking ........................................................7 (City of Port Phillip 2018) ............................................... 42 Walkable places make good economic sense .............8 Case study – Camberwell Factors influencing travel behaviour .............................8 (City of Boroondara 2015) .............................................. 44 Availability of information on walking ..........................10 Discussion ......................................................................46 Walking in Melbourne .................................................... 12 Implications for design ...............................................46 Walking mode share and distance .............................13 Encourage walking and make it convenient ...............46 Walking rates by age group .......................................14 Improve public transport operations and access .......................................................................46 Mode by gender .........................................................16 Reconsider car parking provisions and Walking rates by car ownership and licence ..............16 street design ...............................................................47 Purpose and length of walking trips ...........................17 Reallocate some road space currently used by Walking throughout the week .....................................19 private vehicles to benefit all of society ......................47 Public transport and walking ......................................20 Provide the evidence ..................................................47 Travel to the train station .............................................20 References ......................................................................48 Travel to bus and tram stops ......................................23 Appendix A Evaluating which trips to include Travel to shops and services ........................................ 24 in travel to shops and services ..................................... 52 Mode share to shops and services ............................25 Appendix B Shopping centre criteria and locations for VISTA analysis.......................................... 53 Reasons for choice of mode to local shops ...............30 Distance travelled to shops and services ...................30 Reasons for being at the local shops .........................32 WALKING AND TRANSPORT IN MELBOURNE SUBURBS 1 Executive Summary This report looks at how people travel around Melbourne, with a particular focus on the role of walking and access to suburban shopping centres. It includes analysis of Melbourne household travel data captured through the Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity (VISTA). No publicly available, detailed analysis of this data set has previously been carried out to understand the role of walking in the transport system. Like all household travel surveys, VISTA underreports short trips including walking, but it is one of the best sources of data on walking currently available. In addition to a literature review of published reports, Victoria Walks also sourced a range of unpublished data to gain the strongest possible understanding of access to suburban shopping centres. Walking in the transport system While most trips under 1 km are walked, 21% are still driven. If half of these short driving trips were replaced with walking, Walking is an important way for people to get around. The 223,000 short vehicle trips could be avoided every weekday in VISTA analysis finds that 16% of trips in Melbourne are walked Melbourne. and an additional 8% have at least one walking stage (24% In inner Melbourne, 39% of trip stages are walked, more than involve some walking), usually combined with public transport. twice that of outer Melbourne (17%), but the median walk For every group between 20 and 90 years of age, around one distance is shorter (563 m compared to 710 m). This partly in three people who leave home on a given day will do some reflects design. Housing in inner Melbourne is generally high walking. For those aged 10-19, the proportion is higher at 44%, density with high quality public transport and shops, services reflecting their increased reliance on walking. and employment within short distance. Outer Melbourne generally has poorer walking environments and people have Walking is of course used primarily for short trips. Almost two- to travel further to access shops and services, with public thirds of total transport trips under 1 km are walked. However, transport and employment options limited or not available. people will commonly walk more than a kilometre, with almost one third of all trips between 1 and 2 km in length walked. Even in the growth areas, town centres do not have to be car-dominated. This main street town centre is in Point Cook, one of Melbourne’s newest suburbs. 2 WALKING AND TRANSPORT IN MELBOURNE SUBURBS Executive Summary Walking and public transport Analysis as part of this work considers shorter trips (less than 2 km) to shops and services across Melbourne. This reveals The VISTA analysis highlights the walking is a fundamental significant variation between business types, with people part of the public transport system. Nearly every trip involving walking for almost two-thirds of short trips to restaurants, public transport made in Melbourne also includes some cafes, pubs and bars. Half of short trips to milk bars, walking at either the origin or destination. newsagencies and general retail are walked, compared to 37% to supermarkets. The analysis finds that for trips from home, the median length of a walking trip to a train station is 721 metres, while the The research finds that the primary factor in people’s choices median walk to a bus stop is 390 m and to a tram stop is regarding how to travel to centres is perceived convenience, 360 m. These are in line with the commonly accepted irrespective of the mode they used to travel. distances of 800 m to a train station and 400 m to a bus stop. International research consistently finds that retailers under- Despite ongoing efforts by state and federal governments to estimate the number of people walking to their centre and facilitate driving to train stations through increasing numbers over-estimate the number of people driving. Two Melbourne of free car parks at suburban stations, walking is easily the studies looked at these perceptions, with the same outcome. most common way for people to access stations. Almost half For example, surveys on Sydney Road in Brunswick and of