YarraBUG

Chris, Faith, Val and Steve

0.0 (0)
NEWS
UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

Yarra Bicycle Users Group promotes urban cycling. Providing support to campaigns to improve cycling conditions and awareness; demystifies cycling technology and helps to reveal the diversity of cyclists, from children to commuters to lobbyists.

JAN 25

New TAC Light Insights Trial in Stonnington & North Richmond Bike Bus

This weeks program has two interviews, first up Chris talks to Adele Vosper about Stonnington Council partnering with the Transport Accident Commission to conduct a smart bike light trial with See.Sense bike lights and data technology to capture data on bike riding experiences in Stonnington.For additional details, go to Light Insights Trial to apply and complete the application form by 5pm Monday 23 February 2026.Second interview, Karen Hovenga talks about the new North Richmond Bike Bus having a soft launch this Friday 30 Friday January for Term 1.'North Richmond Bike Bus is a group of families who live in North Richmond and have children at Yarra Primary School and Trinity Primary School. We meet on a Friday morning and ride our bikes to school together. We'd love to have you join the fun.'Read more about bike busesComplete this google form to register or volunteer.Funding for the North Richmond Bike Bus has been supported by the Victorian Government.Local news includes a call out for assistance to keep Melbourne Bike Rave going, staying safe during the current heatwave conditions across Victoria and Australia. Go to VicEmergency to find emergency information and warnings.Following up on e-bike changes in Victoria, Transport Victoria have banned all converted e-bikes from the network, in Hobart/Nipaluna: Bike lanes not to blame for congestion and international outrage and solidary after the extrajudicial killing of Alex Pretti on 24 January 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Program MusicKing Stingray, Camp dogTycho, DevicesTycho, To Everywhere Part. 1
JAN 4

What a difference a mayor makes

Nic Dow and Val take a look into how the mayors in cities drive changes in cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Examples being Anne Hidalgo of Paris and Sadiq Khan of London.
12/28/2025

Sparkling summery cycling tunes

We're having a short summery break, so enjoy this active transport themed playlist for our last program for 2025Program musicJon Brenner, Tour de VeloEels, 3 SpeedCamp Cope, How to socialise & make friendsFlobots, HandlebarsHONNE, B I K EDota, RennradKing Stingray, Camp dogHalf Man Half Biscuit, A Lilac Harry Quinn
12/21/2025

Melbourne BUG news and a Book Review

Melbourne BUG news and a Book Review: Nik Dow from Melbourne BUG on what is happening at the Melbourne City Council regarding the funding, planning and transparency surrounding the city's bicycle infrastructure.If you love riding bikes but the weather has kept you inside, there is nothing better than reading about them and their makers. Melbourne authors Christine Elliott and David Jablonka have produced something special with Handcrafted Bicycles, Builders, Frame Design, and Insiration. Great photographs, a wide range of designs and a text that is part history and in a way, 32 Bike Moments.
12/14/2025

Laura Aston talks about bringing your street to life

On this weeks program Chris catches up with Laura Aston Wayfinder Labs to talk about her Street Joy Kit, Regenerative Streets Podcast and recent activities. We discuss new ways to slow down, make local connections, interpret our streets, ongoing challenges with traffic and public space and the opportunity to feel more welcome via offering people a series of tiny seasonal activities and experiments.Follow streetmakerlaura, #streetjoy on insta and Bring Your Street to LifeLocal news and announceables galore include (drumroll) Gipps Street Ramps finally opening, Iris Dixon Veloway opening (also see Footscray Veloway - Opening Week User Experience Survey), Federation Trail Link works completed, Somerville to Baxter Trail apparently opening very soon and take a look at the new Heyington Avenue bridge in Doncaster.And the Victorian Government have followed NSW with banning after market e-bike changes instead of a blanket ban around the PT network, the changes start on 21 December 2025.As I ran out of time, here's that bell hooks quote:'Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity. Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, reveling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community'Program musicJon Brenner, Tour de VeloCharlie Parker, Now's the timeB I K E, HONNE
12/07/2025

CrashDash - making crash stats accessible for everyone

Val and Faith are joined in the studio by Anthony Aisenberg of CrowdLab. We all share our bike moments before taking a look at some very exciting news; firstly the completion of the Gipps Street ramp after a twenty-plus year advocacy effort, and secondly, the opening of the Dixon Veloway, named after our favourite studio guest, the late Iris Dixon. Talk turns to CrowdLab's latest project, CrashDash; a platform for providing acess to crash data collected by agencies across Australia. CrashDash pulls together the sometimes impermeable state governement crash statistics and provides filters and tools that give advocates, councils, consultants and others user-friendly access to data about their local areas and projects. Anthony fills us in on the differences between the ways different states collect data in Australia and the need for a uniform national approach. You can also check out Anthony's earlier project BikeSpot.
11/30/2025

Lachlan McKenna talking about e-bike standards & more

On this weeks program Chris talks with Lachlan McKenna about e-bike standards, Saul Griffith observations about using e-bikes in hilly areas, torque vs. power discussions, different potential uses in Australia, lower transport emissions, Australia returning to the EN-15194 standard after they were scrapped by the previous Australia Federal Government in 2021 and we discuss his petition: Increase Tasmanian E-Bike Power Restrictions to USA Standards (750W) TAS is not Europe.Local news includes Critical Mass 30, both Gipps Street Ramps and Westgate Veloway opening real soon, Adopt safe 30km/h streets in Richmond petition and in related news earlier this week, Darebin Council adopted 30km/h as part of the High Street Preston Streetscape Upgrade.Program musicKing Stingray, Camp dogShonen Knife, Cycling is fun
11/23/2025

The VICBUG app and mapping bike infrastructure

Faith and Val are joined in the studio at 3CR by guest Vince Masci. We all share our bike moments before taking a look at a couple of local news items. Last Friday an ammendment was passed in Parliament that sees $15M of the revenue collected by the parking/congestion levy allocated to walking and cycling projects in participating local council areas for each of the next ten years. This is a small but significant boost to local Council's active transport budgets and we look forward to seeing the results! Also announced last Friday, the federal government is re-instating tthe european standard EN-15194 for imported electric bikes while also working on a framework to regulate the import of electric mobility devices. This will give people clarity on what is and isn't a legal electric bike and also help state governments sensibly regulate the use of electric bikes, particularly on public transport. Talk turns to Vince's project with the VicBug.app, mapping the different sorts of bicycle infrsctructure around Melbourne and building a platform for community input and maybe even data informed advocacy. Its only been online for a few weeks so take a look and sign up and give your feedback. You may also want to check out Vince's other project at bikeroutes.com.auFinally we finish up with a reminder that Critical Mass is coming up this Friday, its a BIG one, its the 30th anniversary this month of Critical Mass in Melbourne so make sure you come along and join the party!

See All (493)

Yarra Bicycle Users Group promotes urban cycling. Providing support to campaigns to improve cycling conditions and awareness; demystifies cycling technology and helps to reveal the diversity of cyclists, from children to commuters to lobbyists.