Walking, Riding and Access to Public Transport – supporting active travel in Australian communities
Food for thought – this report was launched on Tuesday from Infrastructure Australia Major Cities Unit: Walking, Riding and Access to Public Transport – supporting active travel in Australian communities
Traffic congestion in urban areas is a central consideration for transport, and is estimated to cost $20.4 billion by 2020. One in seven adult Australians drives less than five kilometres to work or study. In Victoria, 55 per cent of all trips are five kilometres or less, of which 85 per cent are by car. Shifting even a small proportion of these short-distance trips to walking and riding could reduce congestion across our urban transport networks, and can lead to positive outcomes for the environment, our health and liveability.
Labor won’t support East-West tunnel
The Age: Labor won’t support East-West tunnel. July 30, 2013. Royce Millar and Josh Gordon
EXCLUSIVE
State Labor is set to draw a line in the sand over the controversial east-west tunnel, with Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews to announce he is unambiguously against the $6-$8 billion project, one of the largest in Victoria’s history.
Senior ALP sources yesterday confirmed the Opposition’s intention to support and new road linking the western suburbs to the Port of Melbourne, and for works to ease congestion along Hoddle Street.
Fairfax Media understands the shadow cabinet firmed its position at a meeting on Tuesday morning.
Labor is also committed to the $9 billion metro rail tunnel, which has been backed by Federal Labor.
Since the Coalition embraced the eastern link – from the Eastern freeway at Clifton Hill to Tullamarine freeway – as a priority in late 2011, Labor has struggled with the politics of the state’s biggest infrastructure project. Continue Reading…
The political reality behind the east-west link
“Sadly, it seems clear that the Coalition has made the east-west link its top transport priority, not because it would be the most effective way of spending $8 billion on solving Melbourne’s transport problems, but because it sees it as an issue to wedge Labor, at federal and state level, between its inner-city and outer-suburban voters.”
By Tim Colebatch, The Age Economics Editor, July 23 2013
“I’ll urge Kevin Rudd to come down to Melbourne and .. . stand at the top of Hoddle Street and have a look at the Eastern Freeway between 7.30 and 8am and I think he’ll get his chequebook out.”
Premier Denis Napthine, July 16.
It’s a good idea for political leaders to inspect Melbourne’s transport problems. I would urge Dr Napthine, with Treasurer Michael O’Brien and Transport Minister Terry Mulder, to follow his own advice, and begin their own study tour.
They should ask each council to name its worst area of congestion. Then they could spend half an hour every morning visiting each in turn, getting briefed by the city engineer and Better Roads Victoria on the causes of the congestion, its consequences, and potential solutions. Continue Reading…
