Dear Subscriber

Welcome to the PCAL monthly bulletin.

This bulletin reports up to date news and research of interest to people who want to promote active living choices in NSW.

Previous bulletins are archived on the PCAL website.

PCAL does not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes or services that may be displayed through bulletin hyperlinks.

The first edition of the BikePlan bulletin has been released to provide an update on completed NSW BikePlan actions and works in progress. In this first edition read about NSW cycling infrastructure projects, cycle safety, community events and new time-to-destination signage.

Sharing the Load to Shed the Load is an initiative developed by Orana Regional Organisation of Councils (OROC) to educate and inform rural NSW communities about local physical activity projects. 

The National Urban Policy - our cities, our future: a national urban policy for a productive, sustainable and liveable future has been released. The framework sets out ways to better connect infrastructure to reduce people's dependency on the car, develop high quality public transport, reduce the cities carbon footprint and improve urban planning and design. PCAL's submission to the report can be viewed here.

 

The US Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Centre (PBIC) has recognised 11 towns and cities as Walk Friendly Communities. The US National Association of Realtors has also released the results of its 2011 Community Preferences Survey, which revealed that most Americans would like to live in walkable communities.

 

A new Victorian report provides evidence of linkages between access to public transport and health enhancing physical activity.

A recent US study has found that bike-specific transport infrastructure projects (such as creating or refurbishing bike lanes) create 11.4 jobs per $1 milllion spent, versus 7.8 jobs per $1 million spent on road-specific projects (such as repaving or widening roads). Road projects that integrated major pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure also resulted in an average 48% more job creation than projects that focused exclusively on roads for motor vehicles.

PCAL and the Healthy Built Environments Program (HBEP) are hosting TWO FREE Healthy Planning Events in July. An integrated strategic planning and health seminar by visiting Professor Hugh Barton on the 13th July and an all day guided bus tour of selected Sydney metro healthy built envioronment sites on the 14th July are planned. To register click here.

• GoPlay  is a new school holiday diary featuring hundreds of sport, recreational, art and cultural activities available around NSW for kids of all ages. There's also a free ipod app to download. For holiday ideas visit www.goplay.nsw.gov.au.

 

'The BikePlan bulletin' image courtesy of The Roads and Traffic Authority