Traffic Committees

Should BUGs have a rep on the traffic committee? This is a tricky one.

The RTA says traffic committees are merely a technical review body, providing _technical advice_ to council. They say it is up to councillors in the full council meeting to take into account _community_ issues (such as cycling) when deciding whether or not to accept the traffic committee's recommendations.

This makes sense, of course. However, when many traffic engineers have a particular deficiency in their training/expertise, it could be argued that an expert in bicycle facility engineering (or at least a BUG member familiar with the NSW Bicycle Guidelines) is needed to assist the traffic committee in formulating that technical advice. Perhaps in future, when all council traffic engineers and RTA reps have done the "Designing for Bicycles and Pedestrians" course, maybe it won't be so necessary for us to help.

If you want a BUG rep on the traffic committee, be prepared for opposition and understand this reasoning. And good luck. If you do get in, keep your comments to technical advice (raise policy issues, etc, with a councillor later). Remember you still don't have voting rights. If you don't succeed, use that to push council to send all their traffic engineers on the course.

In the City of Sydney, the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, deemed that the traffic committee should have a bicycle representative, so it does. Marrickville Council would not agree, but did agree to send the business papers to the BUG for review _before_ the meeting, allowing them to submit comments in writing.

Here is the RTA brochure which more fully explains the role of traffic committees.
www.rta.nsw.gov.au/trafficinformation/downloads/ltcbrochure_i.pdf