That’s what’s being reported quite widely, anyway. But it turns out the truth may be even worse. Zooming in on a section of northern Brisbane in the map showing only the three types of separated bikeway, we see this:
The two northern-most segments are just clear, standard shared paths:
The next one down is not even that. It’s your standard footpath:
And the fourth one is somehow even worse. It’s…fictional. It doesn’t exist. Not really. It’s a concrete path that doesn’t connect to anything at either end, and is entirely overrun by grass and mud and swamp. This shows one end:
And here’s the other:
That’s the first four paths that I checked, and all four of them are not actually bikeways. They’re not the only ones. The fifth one I checked is the last one on that map, and it is a bikeway, judging by the one sign of it I could find on Google Maps, though I don’t think it goes anywhere remotely useful. But the sixth I checked is on the Kedron Brook, further west around Keperra. And it was also a simple shared path.
Regardless, comfortably over 90% of the “bike paths” in Brisbane are actually footpaths or shared paths. And thus it would be illegal for ebikes to go at more than a slow jogging pace on them, if this bill is passed unamended.
If you ride an ebike, know someone who does, or just like the idea that people should be allowed to ride responsibly, I’d encourage you to make a submission to the inquiry describing your personal experience and saying you don’t approve of the bill. You can find out more information about the bill and how to format a submission here: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-Committees/Committees/Committee-Details?cid=272&id=8575 or by checking out Space4cyclingbne, Brisbane CBD BUG, or Brisbane West BUG on Facebook, or Bicycle Queensland (on their website or on FB).
Or email the committee directly here: SDIWC@parliament.qld.gov.au
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Good detective work, I appreciate it! Bike infrastructure in Brisbane is a joke. Plenty of “bike lanes” that run for three blocks and are disconnected from any other suitable paths.
Shared paths are terrible for bikes and pedestrians. Similar problems in Melbourne.
Shared paths can be fine. They shouldn’t be used in high-volume areas, but a lot of these paths aren’t very high volume. When I ride 20+ km of a weekend on the Gateway Bikeway and Deagon Deviation Bikeway, I might pass 3–5 pedestrians and a couple dozen cyclists over that whole distance. Yes, it’d be better if there was full separation, and those bikeways are alongside overly-wide motorways that could easily afford to lose a lane to do it. But it’s honestly not that big a deal.
The smaller Cabbage Tree Creek bikeway doesn’t run alongside a road, and literally doesn’t have room to expand. It’s wedged between the creek and homes, parks, and other well-used amenities. It’s low enough volume and—because of how much it winds around—low enough speed, that it doesn’t really need separation.
What I don’t get about the shared paths is why they put the bikes and pedestrians on the same side. As a pedestrian you don’t see the bikes coming and as a cyclist you’re always coming up behind the pedestrians you’re about to pass.
But it’s honestly not that big a deal.
sure that’s because no one uses it because it’s mixed.
No, it’s because our suburbs are far too low-density that the distance you’ve got to travel is too great for walking to be a pleasant option, so the only pedestrians you see are those out specifically for exercise/recreation, and even cyclists are more likely to be recreational than travelling to a destination.
Some of these paths are also far too exposed to the sun and too close to uncomfortable, noisy roadways to make for a pleasant recreational walk, even. Or wind about too much through overgrown greenery that drops twigs and leaves to be good for the more serious recreational cyclists.