Talking Point: Slow down on Hobart speed limit debate

We’re just putting it out there — lower limits save lives and help businesses, says Bill Harvey

DEBATE: The recommendation is calling for a formal stakeholder engagement process.

It’s been disappointing to hear the diatribe around proposed speed limit changes in the CBD and shopping strips across Hobart.

Public statements from City of Hobart elected representatives such as “screams of a solution searching for a problem” and “anti-car ideology” achieve nothing but undermine public perception and confidence.

Elected representatives should be focused on facts and evidence rather than political attention-seeking.

Council process dictates that reports are prepared by professionally qualified officers, containing plans, data and evidence to support recommendations. Sometimes, reports are initiated by elected representatives, but mostly they are operational reports aimed at delivering the council’s strategic plans.

Speed limit changes have been a focus of transport planning since 2011, and align with the current Capital City Strategic Plan 2019-2029, which states: “5.2 Hobart has effective and environmentally sustainable transport systems. 5.2.4 Identify and implement infrastructure improvements to enhance access and road safety and reduce air and noise pollution.”

Councils are focused on continuous improvement to public safety and amenity for residents and visitors.

Recommendations are not random thought bubbles, but are backed up with research, evidence, data and alignment with strategic plans.

Reducing speed limits is one of a number of strategies to improve safety and amenity, and this is well recognised and understood. At every planning and city conference I’ve attended, there have been examples and case studies highlighting the benefits. Urban and transport planners and sustainability experts the world over recognise the benefits and, over the past few decades, there has been a global shift to calm traffic in high pedestrian locations.

It is well documented this achieves substantial improvements in safety and amenity for pedestrians, bike and motorbike riders, and has benefited local businesses.

We also know many cities have the same acrimonious debate where facts and evidence are pitted against negative opinion but, on the other side, as data becomes available, it is realised lower speeds have improved things.

The case for lower speeds in high pedestrian areas in Hobart has been backed by organisations including the RACT, Heart Foundation, Road Safety Advisory Council and Hobart Active Travel Committee.

The Road Safety Branch of the Tasmanian Department of State Growth supported the council report and referred to recommendation 8 of the of the Academic Expert Group, Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety (Stockholm February 2020): “In a safe system, roads and vehicles are designed to accommodate human errors without resulting in serious injury or death … In these dense urban areas, even the best road and vehicle design features are unable to adequately guarantee the safety of all road users when speeds are above the known safe level of 30km/h. A maximum speed limit of 30km/h in urban areas is widely supported by researchers and safety experts to provide adequate protection for vulnerable road users.”

What we have learnt from previous speed limit reduction is that crashes were reduced by 17.6 per cent. There have been 1011 crashes in the CBD subject area since 2009, nine serious injuries and two deaths. Every crash can have a lasting impact on the people involved. What has been lost in the debate so far is that the recommendation is calling for a formal stakeholder engagement process.

In essence, voting against the recommendation could be interpreted as denying the broader community the opportunity to formally contribute to the process.

Bill Harvey is a Hobart City councillor and chair of the council’s Infrastructure Committee.