The City of Hobart is trialling the use of pedal power instead of petrol-powered four-wheel drives to inspect critical fire trails as the summer bushfire season begins.
Hobart Acting Lord Mayor Helen Burnet said every year the City of Hobart inspects and clears overgrown vegetation along 125 kilometres of fire trails to ensure they are fit and ready for the Tasmania Fire Service in the event of bushfire.
“This year for the first time ever our staff is using e-mountain bikes instead of petrol-powered four-wheel drives to inspect fire trail maintenance work across 5000 hectares of bushland managed by the City of Hobart,” Cr Burnet said.
“The e-bike trial is already proving its worth, with staff discovering the bikes are often faster than four-wheel drive vehicles due to their manoeuvrability in tight terrain.
“The e-bikes also make it easier for staff to uncover other possible risks or areas of concern that would go unseen from a car.”
City of Hobart Sustainability in Infrastructure Portfolio Chair Bill Harvey said that if the trial is successful staff plan to use the e-bikes across many more areas of the City’s track and trail maintenance program.
“These new e-bikes are going to make it so much easier for our staff to inspect shared use tracks and trails,” Cr Harvey said.
“The new e-bikes give our staff greater reach across tracks too narrow for four-wheel drive vehicles, and can be used for inspecting fire trails, investigating track erosion and fallen trees.
“They are less intrusive than using large vehicles on our fire trails and are an excellent example of how we can reduce our carbon emissions.”
