Just off the coast of one of the world’s least sustainable cities sits an exemplar of sustainable urbanism. Rottnest Island/Wadjemup is in many ways everything that Greater Perth is not. Perth could learn a lot from its holiday island.
Brad Pettitt taught his daughter to ride without training wheels on Rottnest Island. For a start, getting around by push-bike on Rottnest exceeds that of even the world’s iconic cycling cities, with over two-thirds of people exploring the island by bike each day. Amsterdam and Copenhagen might be world-leading cycling cities, but their cycling rates don’t come close to those on Rotto.
Back on the mainland mode share for cycling in Perth is one of the lowest in the world and low even by Australian standards, sitting at less than 2 per cent of trips. When you ride into each of the settlements, be it Thompson, Geordie, or Kingston, you see signs that slow speeds from 40km/h (which is the maximum spend on the island), down to 20km/h, and then 10km/h shared zones. As a result, bikes, utes, buses, and people all mingle together safely on the roads.
Back on the mainland, it is largely reversed with the slowest speeds being 40km/h. As a result, Perth’s roads often feel unsafe for cycling and walking as cars speed through our centres. Rottnest goes beyond the global aspiration of a 15-minute city, it’s far better than that.
It operates more like a five or 10-minute city in which everything you need daily, whether it be a supermarket, café, b.
