YarraBUG

On this weeks show, Chris catches up with Kathryn Good from the Story Bridge Active Transport Alliance about last weeks E-mobility Critical Mass protest ride in Brisbane against proposed amendments to Queensland e-bike legislation.Speakers from SNAP ACTION: Defend Legal E-Bikes - Critical Mass Ride included Andrea Herklots, EveryBody Electric Bikes and Matthew Burke, Bicycle Queensland.If you're in Queensland (or Queensland adjunct) please make a submission before 10 April 2026.See E-Mobility Inquiry Committee, Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, news articles: ‘If they want us on the roads, we’re getting on the roads’: Riders plot peak-hour protest and Backlash over pending Queensland e-bike licence laws.Local news includes a fabulous April 1st media release from the Department of Pedalling and Perspiration about their new Ride to Save scheme, ongoing energy and transport issues, see Why affordable alternatives to the car have never mattered more,  Wellington Street in the news: Wellington S

Faith and Val are joined in the studio by Curtis Hatton of Bike Rave Melbourne. We all share a bike moment before taking a look at some recent news including the Victorian government's announcement of free public transport for one month from April 1st. With limited public transport accessibility in many parts of Melbourne shouldn't some pop-up style bike lanes be part of the solution? Talk turns to Bike Rave Melbourne, another enduring grassroots bike event that will be celebrating it's 13th year in 2026. With a line up of four DJs, the promise of epic playslists and a theme of Deluxe Disco this year's event on May 2nd promises to be epic. Melburn Roobaix may have left a hole in this year's bike calendar in Melbourne but maybe this is a way to fill it? You can find all the details and FREE registration for updates at @bikeravemelbourne or Bike Rave Melbourne on FB 

On this weeks program Chris talks to numerous guests about the Elizabeth Street protected lanes protests, media coverage and ongoing issues (apologies for audio quality), including reels from Gabrielle and Sophie, College Street Cycleway history and critique and timeline of last weeks events leading to the protected lanes demolition.Local news includes, Ride to School Day, Australia's looming energy crisis, Victoria’s Active Transport Plan announcement and Critical Mass rides west this Friday 27 March to support BikeWests call for improved infrastructure.Ongoing Elizabeth Street works: Bicycle Networks 25 March article includes more useful detail than Yarra Councils Roadworks update.In March 2026 with a looming national petrol crisis and crunch time for many household travel budgets, it is an indictment on the Victorian Government that neither Minister stepped up to stop demolition of Elizabeth Street protected lanes exactly when people need safe, economical transport options.Action you can take nowEmail 1: C

Val and Faith kick off the show with their bike moments and collectively appreciate the recent shift to autumn. We chat about the recent death of two teenagers in Queensland on an 'e-bike', although its hard to know much about the circumstances at this point. We also remind listeners that the Elizabeth Street protected bike lanes are being ripped up this morning ahead of the re-sheeting of the road and the rebuilding of the lanes in a narrower, less safe configuration. When will the State Government take responsibility for Strategic Cycling Corridors? Not only are they langusihing from a lack of funding but with no one willing to take responsibility for the quality they are built to poor outcomes like that we're seeing on Elizabeth Street undermine local and state aspirations to active transport. Read about what you can do here.Val shares another favourite podcast episode about the history of 15 minute cities and we'll share the link here shortly!https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/15-minute-cities-how-urba

On this weeks show, Chris talks to Aaron Moon about the Parkville Gardens Bike Bus that rides every Friday morning during Term 1, a fun, active way for kids to get to Flemington Primary School together. The bike bus is a collab with several groups including Flemington Primary School, Moonee Valley Bicycle Users Group, Active Transport Moonee Valley, Dr Crankys, Ellen Sandell and City of Melbourne.Learn more: Bike Bus World, Bike Bus Toolkit (WA), Zero Carbon Merri-bek: Ride to school on a Bike Bus! (Vic), North Richmond Bike Bus (Vic) and Bayswater Bike Bus (WA).News includes another futile global fossil fuel conflict, now with even less oversight than the previous two Gulf Wars and more incomprehensibly stupid, refer to MUA: Australia's fuel insecurity exposed by global conflict & Climate Council: Fuel shock: why clean energy is our best defence, Bicycle Network Super Tuesday Bike Counts and a water main collapse on St George's Road South opposite Brunswick Oval. Program musicKing Stingray, Camp DogMGMT, Kid

On this weeks program Chris talks to two guests, first up Alex Lamb from Say YES to a new Wellington Street, a group of residents who support 'Option 1: shared street' for Wellington Street. Alex discusses Option 1 benefits, challenges, history, critiques the anti-Welllington Street campaign and how can people get involved, add their names to an open letter and get a corflute to show support for safer Wellington Street.Second guest is Aidan Barac-Dunn from Safer Streets for Richmond who currently have petition for Adopt safe 30km/h streets in Richmond. Aidan talks about simple steps to make local streets safer, including Speed Zoning Policy and signaling to the community what's possible.Local news includes Bike Fest: an epic all things Bikes, FREE fun day out Saturday 21st March, located outside Bike Hubs shop at 608 Barkly Street, West Footscray.Program music: H O N N E, BIKEFour Tet - Into Dust (Still Falling)Bonobo, Flashlight

Faith and Val are back in the studio and sharing their bike moments despite a glitch to the start of the program. Amongst other news, it is 3CRs annual Subscriber Drive and a great time to subscfribe to the station if you don't already so so. You can subscribe at this link, and select Yarra BUG Radio from the dropdown if you would like to support the program. The Great Rixe of Return Naarm is planned again for late March and they need more people to help particulalry on the day. Get in touch if you can help! Faith chats about local updates on her cycling routes in the Netherlands and Dutch pragmatism in implementing infrastructure in challenging spaces. Val takes us back fifty years to 1976 when 3CR was created and a look at our favourite bicycles in Mdelbourne at the time. 

On this weeks program Chris catches up with Jeremy Lawrence Streets Alive Yarra and discuss Yarra Council Report card, the ever moving festival of local democracy alongside rise of grievance politics, proposed Elizabeth Street protected lanes narrowing, a request sent to Gabrielle Williams to protect Strategic Cycling Corridors from degradation, protected bike lane guidelines, announcing creation of new inner suburb parks yet stopping plans for Charlotte Street park in Richmond, Malop Street Green Spine project issues in 2020 and shared space challenges and opportunities facing cities everywhere. Local news, Lime share bike and scooter trial starts in Darebin, Melburn Roobaix takes a pause in 2026, but there's Footscray-Roubaix 2026 on Sunday 1 March 2026. Hey are you a current 3CR subscriber? In February 2026, 3CR is aiming for ONE THOUSAND subscribers, it’s just $40 concession, or $80 full - here's all the ways you can subscribe and support community radio!Program musicKing Stingray, Camp dogTycho, DR Odyss

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 Me

 Nic Dow and Val take a look into how the mayors in cities drive changesin cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Examples being Ann Hidalgo of Parisand Sadiq Khan of London. 

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

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.  

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 t

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. 

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

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 Melb

On this weeks program Chris interviews Anna from Big Ride for Palestine. News and events includes looking back to anti F19 protests blocking Alexandra Parade in 1976, reminiscing about damage done by cycling 'advocate' John Forrester including his interference with Geelong Bike Plan in the 1970s, see How One Cycling-Obsessed Weirdo's Pro-Bike Crusade Actually Made Riding Bikes Worse For Everyone Else and Not Just Bikes latest deep dive on the subject: This is Why Cycling is Dangerous in America. Infrastructure Victoria announces new ideas for 12 cycling corridors across the Melbourne area which would be absolutely fabulous, if implemented. (BN: New infrastructure strategy boosts bike corridors).Anna chats about Big Ride for Palestine, the rides history, community building, how people can get involved with walking, running or cycling to raise needed funds to support two of Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA’s long-term partner organisations, ‘MA’AN Development Centre’ in Palestine and ‘Palestinian Women’s Humanitarian Or

Faith and Val are joined in the studio by James Laing, an active transport specialist with Stantec and twenty years experience in the UK and with the City of London. We share our bike moments which include a reminder that November is Lung Cancer Awareness month and the Lung Foundation is raising funds towards research that allows the increasing number of people, and in particular young women who are being disgnosed with lung cancer. Modern treatments mean not only that people like Faith's friend survive but also that they are able to enjoy some of their usual activities, like bike rides, to some extent but more research is always needed! You can make a donation here if you'd like to.James Laing fills us in on the background to the Healthy Streets framework, how it was developed and why in the UK and how it has made its way to Australia. We discuss the benefits of the framework in providing more rounded perspectives of the impacts changes on our streets can have for everyone, who is using it in Australia and w

This weeks program includes two powerful post ride speeches from Pierre Vairo, Bike West and Tim Richter, father of Will Richter, made at a Critical Mass memorial ride for Will on Friday 31 October 2025.On 22 September 2025, Will Richter was riding his bike to the University of Melbourne via Macaulay Road, Kensington, when he was struck and killed by the driver of a truck. It was his 19th birthday.October's Critical Mass memorial ride paused for a moment of reflection and bell ringing on Rankins Road, the site of Will’s tragic death then completed his journey to Melbourne Uni."Sanguis Ante Actum" - Blood before action (fb link)From Aly, a family friend 'My thoughts today, 24 October 2025, as posted on my personal page' (fb link)Media release: Family and friends of Will Richter, in conjunction with Critical Mass, to host a memorial ride in honour of WillLetter from Melissa Horne in response to Bike Wests questions. (fb link)Petition: Demand Labor approve safe bike lanes on Macaulay RoadThank you to Liz, Sophie

Val and Faith face a chilly morning in the studio while their planned guest waits in vain for a train on the Chelsea train station platform. We share our bike moments before taking a look at some recent news. In November changes come into effect that mandate reversing technologies for all new vehicles, including trucks, starting November 1, 2025, with a full mandate for all new models by November 1, 2027. Together with new rules from 2023, that allow more camera and mirror systems to be fitted to heavy vehicles, these could mean an improvement in safety for vulnerable road users. But will they, if it isn't mandated for Australia's older truck fleets?We take a look at what happened in the Netherlands when retro fitting of blind spot mirrors to trucks saw deaths of people on bikes after crashes with trucks drop significantly. It is one of a suite of measures that include separating vulnerable road users and education campaigns. Is this something Australia should be considering?  We finish with a reminder that t