The City of Melville has long been a TravelSmart Champion.  With the help of Departmental funding, they were one of the first local governments to hire a TravelSmart Officer in 2000.  In 2005 the City of Melville started fully funding the position. Over the years the City of Melville has instigated many TravelSmart innovations.

Melville’s TravelSmart Officer has helped to shape and develop projects tailored to the City of Melville: projects suited to resident’s needs and the available opportunities for active transport.  The TravelSmart Officer has helped develop many innovative projects including:

The SMARTi program encouraged staff in the Canning Bridge Precinct to TravelSmart to Work.  The program was designed to coincide with the opening of the Canning Bridge railways station.  It involved hiring a part-time Travelsmart Workplace Officer; providing subsidised public transport fares; giving a bicycle to those who committed to commute by bike for a year; some minor improvements to the path network; and the installation of improved signage.  In addition to increases in physical activity SMARTi reduced single occupancy vehicle trips by 16% among participating organisations, saved 147,360 kilograms of CO2 emissions over one year and freed up 83 car bays each day for customers and staff who needed to drive.  SMARTi was funded by the Australian Government, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and the City of Melville.

The aim of this program is to familiarise Senior Citizens, who may not have caught a bus since their childhood or are unfamiliar with the new ticketing systems, with public transport .  “Often people are unaware of how easy using public transport can be.  The Magical Mystery Tour provides them with a fun way to find out how straight forward public transport is,” City of Melville TravelSmart Officer Leon Ebbelaar said.  The tour includes a briefing session prior to departure where Seniors learn how to organise their journey, consult timetables, and use their SmartRider.  A mentor accompanies the Seniors on a public transport trip which involves a couple of transfers and answers any questions along the way.

The Silhouette Children Project involves the temporary installation of life-sized upright silhouettes of children in front of schools.  This creates a sense of ‘intrigue’ in the driver, which causes them to slow down.  As part of this trial parents also pledge to drive within the speed limit and place stickers on their cars claiming they care about the impact that fast cars around the school have on the safety of their children.  This is a creative solution to speeding in the 40 kilometres an hour zone.

The City of Melville adopted and completed one review (2001) of their comprehensive bike plan.  Since the adoption of their bike plan they have been actively installing and upgrading their cycling facilities.  They now have one of Perth’s most extensive cycling networks with over 83 km of dual use paths and an extensive network of on road cycling facilities.

School parking policy

A School Parking Policy was adopted by Melville Council which rules that the provision of additional parking facilities will only be considered if schools have a demonstrated commitment to promoting walking, cycling, public transport and safe motoring habits.  Schools are strongly encouraged to participate in TravelSmart programs to identify the current need for parking and the potential for non-car travel modes, before other engineering treatments are considered.