Val and Faith are joined in the studio by Paul McKay, former General Manager of Bicycle Victoria (now known as Bicycle Network)  We share our bike moments before taking a look at BUGs, or Bicycle User Groups. It's thirty-five years since the first Bicycle User Groups were created in Australia in 1990 . Paul explains why Bicycle Victoria created BUGs, their role as advocates, their changing relationship wth Bicycle Network over the years, and their resilience as grass roots community advocates.   

On this weeks program Chris talks to Adam Pulford about Lime and Neuron e-scooter rental schemes in Melbourne including them no longer available in Melbourne or Yarra, a disconnect between decision makers and end users creating kneejerk reactions, how consultation processes don't necessarily work for busy people, how e-scooters provide a vital last mile/km travel option, why aren't designated on-road parking bays an option to keep footpath areas decluttered, why modern cities should be embracing new travel ideas in a environmental and cost of living crisis, state government support for e-scooters, how to plan and design streets for everyone, problems with e-scooters trials means they can be easily lobbied against as part of the so called road culture wars and what steps people can take next.Local news, Brunswick Bike Shed holding earlier sales during CERES Harvest Festival this Saturday 29 March then offering free bike checks to festival attendees from 12pm to 3pm andCritical Mass Boroondara, 5.30pm, Friday 28 March riding to the inner east for cycling infrastructure and a new Yarra river crossing,Keep signing our petition:  Don’t risk our safety in 2025 - tell Yarra Council not to remove safe cycling lanes, Infrastructure Victoria draft 30-year infrastructure strategy + Inquiry into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road usersAnd if you have a few spare hours for reading: Elizabeth Street Protected Bike Lanes: A historyProgram musicKing Stingray, Camp dog

Faith and Val are joined in the studio by Will Hartnett of Cycling Wild and Off Course bike shop. Will talks about the years he has spent exploring the Flinders Ranges and other remote areas of Australia by bike and the knowledge he has gathered showing others around on foot and wheels. While he has often shared his experience on his website Cycling Wild, he now plans to go one step further and provide supported tours to the Flinnders Ranges and other areas of Australia.  Riders who want to explore moore adventurous regions can do so without having to manage the sometimes challenging logistics by themselves. You can find out more about his first tour coming up in September and future plans at Cycling Wild. 

On this weeks program Chris talks to Mark Donnellon from Streets People Love Hobart about how they created the group, what actions they've taken since December 2024, how the campaign grew from passionate debate about improving Collins Street, showing community support for active transport in nipuluna Hobart, being guided by their fun-loving mascot, Perci the Platypus, supporting Hobart City Councils Argyle and Campbell Street bicycle connections and getting people involved with a public meeting about the Collins Street improvement trial on Tuesday 25 March at 5.30pm at City Hall, 57-63 Macquarie Street.Local news includes the Victoria Parliament finally tabling the final report of the inquiry into vulnerable road users that was tabled in the Legislative Assembly last year, you can read the report here, especially Recommendation 31: 'The Department of Transport and Planning continue to promote the installation of protected bike lanes in inner and middle Melbourne'. Most of the recommendations are supported 'in principle' which is fairly lukewarm response to be honest. Critical Mass Boroondara is coming up on Friday 28 March, Yarra and Boroondara need a new river crossing! Infrastructure Victoria has just released their 30 year plan, and it supports a cycling link from the city through to the Hawthorn - Box Hill trail. This link would need a new pedestrian and cycling bridge between Richmond and Hawthorn.And don't forget to sign our petition: Don’t risk our safety in 2025 - tell Yarra Council not to remove safe cycling lanesProgram musicKing Stingray, Camp dogCamp Cope, How to socialise friends and influence people

Val and faith take to the 3CR studio for another episode of the Yarra BUG Radios Show. 

On this weeks program Chris talks to Tim Smith, local industrial designer about his journey to developing FoldSmith folding bike hire and sales. Tim discusses the joy of growing up with bikes, becoming a cycle courier, running a bike cab business, his business ideals, raising the profile of folding bikes, FoldSmith folding bike rental options and future collaboration plans with Loop Cycles in Brunswick.News includes Don’t risk our safety in 2025 - tell Yarra Council not to remove safe cycling lanes petition update with public pressure gets results with a decision possibly deferred to April, Critical Mass Footscray with Snuff Puppets and all your new friends, 5.30pm, State Library, Friday 28 February, Merri-bek BUG having a stall at the Sydney Road Street Party on Sunday 2 March and Kingsville women lucky to be alive after being struck by a truck driver on Somerville Road (narrowed bike lanes, anyone?)National news includes Active Transport boost for Victoria announcement with $100m allocated to four year period for the entirety of Australia, when Better Streets Australia are calling for $400m per year in the lead up to the 2025 Federal election and Gregory Andrews/Lyrebird Dreaming article: E-bikes and Cargo Bikes: The Transport Revolution Australia Needs. Program musicKing Stingray, Camp dogTricky, Your name (instrumental)

Val and Faith are joined in the studio by Dr Lauren Pearson, Research Fellow & Equity Lead, Sustainable Mobility and Safety Research at Monash University. Lauren joined us on an earlier program to discuss the Petal Project and her report Unlocking young women’s access to bike-riding, relesed late last year. Lauren gives us a a quick recap of the project and its findings about the complexity of travel for young women. You can check out this episode to hear more. Today we loook at the second part of the program which was workshops and interviews with participants and the solutions and interventions particpants themselves came up with for many of the issues raised during the course of research. During the program we also discussed a specific discussion on Late Night Live which you can find here.  

On this weeks program Chris talks to Sarah Aubrey abour her electrification advocacy work via Electrify This plus practicial steps people can take with micro mobility & decarbonisation.Topics include modal mixing transport, well thought out transport systems, Sydney Cycleways, dealing with running interference from fossil fuel industry, the freedom of riding, drivers conditioned to expect parking everywhere, cars vs. bikes being a non-argument, How extreme car dependency is driving Americans to unhappiness, how ebikes are changing peoples expectations, parents using ecargobikes, the facts about lithium-ion batteries, technology reviews, urban design and the sheer fun of riding a ebike.Local news includes Bike Rave: Bike to the future on Saturday 15 February starting 2-3pm at the Noodle Markets, Belgium Avenue and Collingwood Neighbourhood Houses: Free bike check ups, 3.30pm-5.30pm, Mon 17 February at next Arts Richmond Collective Soirée next to 106 Elizabeth Street, Richmond playground, City of Melbourne: Queensberry Street riding lanes and announcing Critical Mass Footscray on 28 February 2025.February means it's time to Show Your Solidary and subscribe to 3CR Radical Radio, here's all the details!Program musicKing Stingray, Camp DogGirl Most Likely, Freeflow

Nic Dow and Val look back on Council elections 2024.

On this weeks show Chris and Steve talks about keeping your bike safe from theft as unfortunately Melbourne has seen a increase in peoples pride and joy being nicked due to combination of things like opportunistic theft, use of cordless power tools and organised activity.We discuss basic tips such as situational awareness, eg, where your bike is locked, using two bike locks, bike lock security levels, removing quick releases & components, observing that sheffield loops & steel poles are secure on the street, bike lock types, bike lock brands, bike lock reviews (these are literally endless) keeping your bike locked while at home, apartment storage units, household insurance, recording and registering your bike with a service like Bike Vault. Apologies we didn't have time to mention gps trackers in any detail and a whole bunch of extra tips.Local news includes South Crescent safety under threat - four things you can do to make a submission or public question at Darebin Council 28 January meeting, Critical Mass Yarra: Friday 31 January 2025: Meet 5.30pm State Library, Swanston Street, naarm, Melbourne. Ride, scoot and skate through our traditional home grounds of Fitzroy, Collingwood & Richmond. Add your name to our petition: Don’t risk our safety in 2025 – tell Yarra Council not to remove safe cycling lanes!Curve Cycling: Bikepacking Bush Mechanics - Womxn of Curve Edition, 11 Feb 2025

Val is joined by Nic Dow from Melbourne BUG to try to decipher the results of the last council elections.We mainly focus on Yarra and Melbourne in this show with some of the other results to be covered in part 2 on the 3rd of February.Link to YarraBUG petition to council.