A group representing 26 Melbourne councils is pushing for speed limits to be reduced to 30 kilometres an area in highly pedestrianised areas.

The Metropolitan Transport Forum is calling for councils to be allowed to set the speed limits on council-controlled roads, which make up an estimated 83 per cent of roads across the city.

The forum argues the current process, which requires councils to go through VicRoads to set speed limits, is too slow.

“They’re our roads, they’re our communities, we should control the speed limits on them,” cycling ambassador for the Metropolitan Transport Forum and former Banyule mayor, Tom Melican, told Neil Mitchell.

Mr Melican said lowering speed limits is a cheap and easy way of making the city safer for pedestrians and cyclists, as many Melburnians avoid public transport due to COVID-19 concerns.

“Some streets are already at 40 km/h an they would benefit from reducing them even further … in certain areas where pedestrians are dominant,” he said.

“We want to make active transport safe across Melbourne,

“Bike lanes are incredibly expensive, lowering the speed limit provides enormous benefit for very little money.”

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