Bicycle Network chief executive Craig Richards said Melbourne's growing population of cyclists were being put at risk by government and council miserliness. "If you don't invest in the future, you get relegated to the past," Mr Richards said. "By failing to provide for bikes, Melbourne's status as Australia's leading cycling city is at stake – not to mention its health and liveability." Dangerous gaps in the city's network of bike lanes are being left unfixed, he said, forcing riders to mix with heavy traffic and putting off many would-be cyclists. Mr Richards said the Andrews government's commitment to cycling was more rhetoric than reality so far.

"The Victorian state government is make the right noises, but isn't moving quick enough," he said. "The responsibility for an integrated and connected bike network rests on the state government's shoulders. We need a clear plan for delivering a connected network of paths, so that local councils can fill key strategic gaps." The government has committed $100 million to cycling and pedestrian links but almost half-way through its first term it has yet to spend a cent of its promised Safer Cyclists and Pedestrians Fund, or even outline a project the money will go to. Traffic in Sydney Road, Brunswick. Credit:Paul Jeffers Bicycle Network has this year revived its annual Bicycle Expenditure Index, BiXE, for the first time since 2012. BiXE is a tool that compares a council's commitment to cycling by calculating its expenditure per resident.

The 2016 index has revealed a sharp decline in expenditure for some councils in the inner city, with Melbourne City Council making the heaviest cut. Melbourne's bike budget for 2016/17, which council endorsed on Tuesday night, is less than one-third what it was in 2012, at $1.71 million. The cut in spending means the council will spend $12 per resident this year, a drop of 76 per cent compared to four years ago, when it spent $50 per resident. By comparison, the City of Sydney will spend $29 per resident this year, and Brisbane and Perth $31 each.

The cities of Yarra and Port Phillip will also spend significantly less per resident on bike infrastructure compared to four years ago, BiXE found. Elsewhere, the cities of Stonnington, Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley have increased bike spending from previously low levels. Dooring Credit:Michael Clayton-Jones The sharp drop in funding for new cycling links threatens to sabotage Melbourne City Council's ambitious plan to have bicycles comprise one in four vehicles coming into the Melbourne CBD by 2020, Bicycle Network said. It will also make it more difficult to hit its goal of zero deaths or serious injury collisions by decade's end.

A spokeswoman for Melbourne City Council defended its level of commitment to cycling and said it was on track to meet its 2020 target. "Over the last four years, we have invested more than $13 million to make Melbourne a safer, more connected city for all bike riders," she said. "In that time, we have completed 90 projects and we now have more than 136 kilometres of bike lanes throughout our city. We are well on track to meet our 2020 target, with cyclists now accounting for 17 per cent of all vehicles coming into the city, which is nearly double what it was in 2008." An Andrews government spokeswoman also defended the government's record on cycling projects, saying it was focusing on encouraging cyclists to use local, low-speed alternative streets and safe cycling routes rather than major arterial roads. Projects under way include a study into separated bike lanes on St Kilda Road, new shared paths at Chandler Highway, Swan Street and Footscray's Shepherd Bridge and the completion of the Darebin Creek Trail.

Shepherd Bridge: Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan announced the start of works to the $40 million upgrade to Shepherds Bridge and the surrounding road network to increase capacity, reduce bottlenecks and provide cycling facilities.