South Australia’s second citizens’ jury saw a group of 37 randomly-selected South Australians be tasked with finding innovative solutions as to what could be done to ensure that all road users would be able to share the roads safely.
Problems and Purpose
A citizen's jury was implemented in South Australia, charged with answering the following question, designed to result in deliberation on preventing accidents [1]:
"Motorists and cyclists will always be using our roads. What things could we trial to ensure they share the roads safely?"
Background History and Context
South Australia has a strong culture of motoring. At the same time there is a growing number of people cycling. There are also increasing demands to be able to travel safely on roads, highlighted by recent accidents. The Jury was encouraged to consider new ways of sharing the roads safely.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The process was funded by the South Australian government as part of the YourSAy programme.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Participants for the jury were chosen through a method of random selection drawn from 6,000 South Australian citizens [2]. The selection process was carried out by newDemocracy Foundation, an independent research organisation. The sample was stratified to ensure that the jury was diverse and representative of the wider community.
Methods and Tools Used
This initiative used a citizens' jury, broadly defined as a small group of randomly-selected individuals who come together to deliberate on an issue after hearing from experts in order to provide recommendations on future action for decision-makers [3] . The deliberative democratic process is intended to result in consensus.
Deliberation, Decisions, and Public Interaction
The jury made use of a variety of methods to build up their knowledge base on the topic [2]. This included:
- Formal presentations & Q&A scheduled with the Jury
- Submissions which were lodged through the YourSay website
- Online forums: both formal, and informal
- Networking with their own communities of interest
- Live Twitter Chat on Day 4 of their deliberations
- Conducting their own research, observations and reflections
- Use of their own, private online Jury forum
- Group work in Jury deliberation sessions
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The jury produced a final report to the government at the end of 2014 with a detailed raft of recommendations to improve road safety and sharing. The government response to the jury recommendations was released in January 2015 and out of 21 individual recommendations, the government supported 18 of these [4].
As a result of the jury recommendations, new cycling laws have been introduced in South Australia. Citizens also had the opportunity to comment on the proposed laws.
As of January 2016, 13 out of 21 recommendations from the jury have been achieved. A further six are in progress and two have been delayed or are under review. In June 2015 the state government also announced its intention to invest $6.5 million in bike boulevards and greenways.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
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See Also
Citizens' Jury on Dog and Cat Management in South Australia
References
[1] YourSAy (2015). Sharing the roads safely. Retrieved from https://yoursay.sa.gov.au/decisions/sharing-our-roads-safely/outcome
[2] YourSAy (2015). Sharing the roads safely: Outcome. Retrieved from https://yoursay.sa.gov.au/decisions/sharing-our-roads-safely/about
External Links
http://www.newdemocracy.com.au/
http://yoursay.sa.gov.au/decisions/sharing-our-roads-safely/about
Citizens’ jury inspires South Australia to become more bike friendly
Citizens' jury to look at how cyclists, motorists can share roads safely