5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

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Join us for another online event to hear about some ongoing work to develop a LTS method for Australia.

Worldwide there is a vision to increase the number, frequency and diversity of people cycling for transport. However research shows that traffic stress is consistently identified as the biggest concern for most people considering whether they would ride a bicycle for transport. In 2005, the Portland Office of Transportation developed a method for categorising the population according to their broad attitudes to cycling. Concern about the danger from traffic is the main factor in the categorisation that determines the willingness of people to ride a bicycle for transport.

In 2012 the Mineta Transportation Institute of Portland, Oregon, published a paper setting out a method for measuring the degree to which traffic presents a perceived threat to users of a cycle route – termed the Level of Traffic Stress (LTS). In 2018 the Oregon Department of Transportation refined the LTS method developed by the Mineta Institute to address inconsistencies and gaps in the method.

The concept of Level of Traffic Stress has been widely adopted worldwide, including in Australia. Several states and cities cite the need to develop cycle networks with low levels of traffic stress to encourage a broad cross-section of people to consider cycling for transport. Yet there currently is no Australian method for determining the LTS of a cycle route and the Oregon LTS method is not directly applicable in the Australian context as it uses imperial measures and American standards.

The Victorian Department of Transport engaged WSP to develop an LTS method and tool for the Victorian context. The LTS method will form the basis of the development of cycling performance indicators in the Movement and Place Framework, and will inform the planning of cycling infrastructure projects. 

This seminar will examine the draft Victorian LTS method, how it enhances the Oregon LTS method, and how the Victorian Department of Transport plans to engage with industry and users on the LTS method.

The seminar speakers will be:

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·        Phil Gray, Vulnerable Road User Program Coordinator, Safer Roads – Transport Services, Department of Transport Victoria

·        Athol Moore, Senior Principal Transport Planner, WSP (Brisbane)

·        Sarah Lowe, Principal Transport Engineer, WSP (Melbourne)

·        Tom Gardener, Transport Engineer, WSP (Melbourne)

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