About

Campaign Goal

We are campaigning for 30km/h to become the default speed limit on residential and urban streets in Australia. This can be done on most streets without the need for any physical calming and we accept that on some streets it is appropriate to have a higher speed limit based on the road, vulnerable road users provisions, etc. But any limit above 30km/h should be based on local circumstances.

Lena Huda, Founder

Lena is the founder of 30Please.org. She grew up on a quiet residential street in Germany, where 30km/h speed limits were implemented in the 80’s. From 6 years old, all children in the neighbourhood either walked or cycled to school. It was normal for children to play on the streets. Lena believes Australia needs to experience lower speed limits to grasp the positive effect on everyone’s day to day life and make it finally possible for all Australians to appreciate walking and cycling as a mode of transport, not just a recreational activity.

Before moving to Australia in October in 2019, Lena has had a successful career working in senior positions for major investment banks in London. The COVID19 crisis, gave her time to reflect upon contributions she could make to society so she decided to dedicate time to launch 30Please.org.

Inspired by the successful 20’s Plenty for Us campaign from the UK and by a research paper calling to reduce the default speed limit of 50km/h to 30km/h published by the British Academy “If you could do one thing…” Lena decided to campaign for lower speed limits. This is a science-backed low-cost measure that would save lives, prevent injuries, reduce health inequalities, reduce air pollution and CO2 emissions, promote stronger communities, enable more walking and cycling and reduce obesity.

Lena lives with her Australian husband and four children in Wollongong council and started her campaign in her local neighbourhood. https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6789059/illawarra-motorists-back-a-cut-to-speed-limits-in-residential-areas/

Dick van den Dool, Co-founder

Dick is a road safety expert and consultant with extensive experience both in Australia and Holland. Dick’s background involves working with State, Local Government, industry and consulting agencies. He has a strong drive to bring out innovative transport planning and traffic engineering solutions in often controversial policy environments. He is well known for his extensive research into traffic calming, bringing fresh ideas from Holland to the attention of the Australian traffic and road safety profession.

Dick was closely involved in Active Travel projects in most of the Sydney Metropolitan LGAs as well as regional NSW and many other agencies around Australia. He was directly involved in over 300km of pathways in Sydney, such as the Bourke Street Cycleway and the M7 Western Orbital Shared Path, and most recently the research, design and consultation for Bicycle Boulevards in WA, SA and QLD. Dick led the research and preparation of guidelines for NSW, QLD, ACT, Austroads and Qatar. Dick was closely involved with a range of AT-rail integration studies, including station/stop access, bike parking and demand assessments.

Dr Jan Garrard, Supporter

Dr Jan Garrard is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University, Melbourne, and Research and Evaluation Consultant in Active Transport. Jan has conducted several research and evaluation studies on the promotion of walking and cycling, active travel to school, female cycling, and cycling safety. Recent studies include multi-method investigations of supports and constraints on walking for senior Victorians, supports and constraints on walking for young people, and parental barriers to active travel to school for primary school students. Jan is the author of several journal articles and book chapters on active transport, cycling participation, women and cycling, and cycling safety.

Prof Paul Tranter, Supporter

Paul is an Honorary Associate Professor of Geography in the School of Science at UNSW Canberra. His research focuses on two critical and related issues for modern cities: children’s well-being and the dominance of speed and mobility in urban planning and society. His latest book, written with Dr Rodney Tolley Slow Cities: Conquering our Speed Addiction for Health and Sustainability demonstrates, counterintuitively, that reducing the speed of travel within cities saves time for residents and creates more sustainable, liveable, prosperous and healthy environments.

Hafez Alavi, PhD, Supporter

Hafez has over 20 years of experience in the fields of transport safety management and engineering, injury prevention research, transport planning, sustainable mobility and the Safe System research & practice in the public/private sectors and the academia. He was a key contributor in strategising, planning, developing, delivering and evaluating the Victorian Government’s ambitious Towards Zero Strategy and Action Plan. Previously the Director of the Safe System Road Infrastructure Program (SSRIP) for the Transport Accident Commission in Victoria, Australia, Hafez has made significant contributions to transform Victoria’s transport system and infrastructure.
Hafez is an enthusiastic road safety trainer and communicator, and finds many opportunities to share his road safety knowledge with a wide range of technical and general groups. https://haconsulting.com.au/about