Ms BURNET – Minister, traffic congestion and air pollution are two major factors that affect transport and our health generally. I’m just interested to know what sort of incentives you might be considering in relation to active transport, such as e‑bikes or personal mobility devices. Are there any sort of incentives and subsidies in that area?
Mr ABETZ – I’ve just been advised that those incentives are with the minister who’s got responsibility, and that is Mr Duigan.
Ms BURNET – Right, okay. I suppose, to that broader question, what are you doing to tackle traffic congestion and air pollution in relation to active transport and encouraging that?
Mr ABETZ – In relation to air pollution, the quicker cars can be on and off the roads, the better. As a result, the road works that we’re undertaking are part and parcel of that. In relation to active transport, where it is appropriate, we seek to encourage walking paths, et cetera.
We’ve just had some that I think were announced in Snug and Kingston. I’m just trying to think where else. We’ve got the one along with the north-west coast at Cooee – is it Cooee way, a cycle and walking path there? We do have a program of seeking to make that –
Ms BURNET – And how do you measure that? How do you measure the effectiveness of the uptake of active transport?
Mr ABETZ – I suppose that’s one of those questions, like how do you measure the uptake of a road widening or a brand‑new road or a bypass road. It’s very hard to determine. I don’t know if there’s some metric that is used by somebody.
So, we are developing a strategy, Secretary? The Tasmanian Walk, Wheel, Ride strategy, with a public consultation proposed from late October for four weeks.
