2010 Media Releases
C’mon Willoughby, do the Local Motion
26 October 2010
Willoughby City Council is delighted to be the recipient of a $21,000 grant from the NSW Government to implement a sustainable travel initiative through the Let’s Clear the Air initiative. The Local Motion – Improve how you Move project aims to empower local residents to reduce their use of private vehicles and make healthier travel choices by walking, cycling and catching public transport more often.
Local Motion will be the next step for council in its efforts to improve local air quality and get more people active more often. The project aims to increase the uptake of more sustainable modes of transport, including walking, cycling and catching public transport.
Local Motion will launch this month with a travel survey of households in Artarmon. Artarmon has been selected for the pilot program due to its proximity to rail services and its strong sense of local community. Residents will be invited to further participate in the program by committing to making a small change in travel behaviour. Participating households will be offered information, assistance and incentives for their involvement.
“I encourage our Artarmon residents to consider participating in the Local Motion pilot project. The surveys will help Council identify the active transport needs of the Artarmon community and improve residents’ awareness of available options to improve how they move,” said Willoughby Mayor, Pat Reilly.
“There are also some great incentives for being involved, with a range of activities being offered to participating households such as cycling workshops and neighbourhood events. The project is a marvellous opportunity for getting to know your local community through various activities and buddy systems,” he said.
“We’re all aware of the great health benefits of active modes of transport, such as walking and cycling. This project will give our residents some great, simple and readily available options and may even be the boost many of us need to avoid hopping in the car for those short trips,” said the Mayor.
Census data for getting to work from 2006 compared with 2001 shows a slight increase in the number of users of sustainable transport options, such as trains, buses, ferries, cycling and walking. Council aims to increase these figures further.
Data from the 2006 Census shows that 78.4 per cent of households in the Willoughby local government area (LGA) own at least one car and that 46.8 per cent of journey to work trips are made by private vehicle.
2007 data provided by the Travel Data Centre from the Household Travel Survey found that 61 per cent of all trips in the Willoughby LGA are made by private vehicle. 17 per cent of all trips were for commuting purposes while 42 per cent of all trips were for shopping and social/recreational purposes.
The difference in the journey to work data and the information on all trips shows that a number of these social and recreational trips are being made by private vehicle. As a result, council’s grant funded project will target both weekday and weekend trips, allowing households whose workplaces are not serviced by public transport or within walking or cycling distance to make changes to their social and recreational trips on weekends.
If each household made one less trip by private vehicle each day, trips by private vehicle could reduce from 61 per cent to 48 per cent. The average trip distance in Willoughby is six kilometres and changing these short vehicle trips to a mode of active transport is the simplest way to improve air quality and the health of our local residents.
For more information, phone Willoughby City Council on 9777 1000.
Media Contact
Media and Marketing Group Manager
Phone: 9777 7703
Mobile: 0421 492 757
Email: rebecca.hill@willoughby.nsw.gov.au