Posts related to 'traffic congestion'

Eastern Transport Coalition - submission to Infrastructure Australia

Published by Alex Makin on Thursday 16th of October, 2008

Tonight I attended the last Eastern Transport Coalition for this current council term. The meeting discussed the ETC’s terms of reference and processes to assist in guiding the member councils and to reaffirm the ETC’s aims of advocating for sustainable transport improvements.

The meeting also discussed the ETC’s recent submission to Infrastructure Australia, which aims to encourage the Federal Government to invest in urban public transport, particularly within Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs.

As we enter times of economic uncertainty, coupled with rising petrol prices, it is imperative that the Federal Government invest significantly within urban public transport to ensure to provide transport choice and to enhance people’s mobility. Public transport infrastructure, such as rail duplications, the Rowville and Doncaster rail lines, would mitigate traffic congestion and reduce greenhouse emissions while also boosting the economic capacity of the eastern region.

The Federal Government has announced that it will fast-track its infrastructure commitments and it is clear that public transport projects must be part of this program to ensure a sustainable and accessible future for Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Eastern Transport Coalition - presenting the short-term priorities of the region

Published by Alex Makin on Thursday 18th of September, 2008

Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition finalised a report into the short-term priorities of the eastern region. This report, which was requested by Premier John Brumby, presents the projects required by the eastern region to assist in mitigating rising petrol prices and worsening traffic congestion.

These priorities, such as a new bus route for Canterbury Road, which would travel between Ringwood and Box Hill, and further improvements to bus service frequencies and operating spans, as well as pedestrian priority measures across Maroondah Highway, can be implemented in the short term and assist in providing transport choice across the eastern region. These projects need to be reinforced by longer term investment in the region, such as the redevelopment of Ringwood Station and new rail lines for Doncaster and Rowville, which would drastically reduce car dependency across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

The State Government’s transport strategy, which will be released in November this year, must deliver public transport improvements across Melbourne and deliver the necessary infrastructure to our outer suburbs. After several attempts at a long term transport strategy, including the clearly insufficient Meeting Our Transport Challenges, which was released in 2006, the State Government must finally deliver real public transport improvements and provide immediate relief to rising petrol prices and improve the accessibility and sustainability of our outer suburbs.

The Eastern Transport Coalition’s short-term priorities for the eastern region will be delivered to the Premier’s office on Friday.

Eastern Transport Coalition - securing public transport improvements for eastern Melbourne

Published by Alex Makin on Thursday 17th of July, 2008

Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition discussed the recently held public transport summit and the State Government’s new transport plan which is due in November of this year.

Following from the public transport summit, The Eastern Transport Coalition recently presented its priorities to the Premier John Brumby and the Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky. This briefing reinforced the need for new rail extensions, upgraded public transport interchanges, such as the redevelopment of Ringwood Station, and vastly improved bus services.

The Government is now seeking a list of projects from the Eastern Transport Coalition which will hopefully form part of the State Government’s new transport plan. The Eastern Transport Coalition is calling on the State Government to invest heavily in public transport so as to provide relief for rising petrol prices and mitigate worsening traffic congestion. It is critical that the State Government delivers a plan that commits to the target of improving public transport patronage and delivering a level of service that meets the needs of Melbourne.

The recently released Emissions Trading Scheme green paper was also discussed, with the Eastern Transport Coalition calling on the Federal and State Governments to work together over the next five years to ensure that public transport services are improved. Federal leadership is required to reduce car dependency and to tackle the rising levels of greenhouse emissions that are caused by the transport sector.

The Eastern Transport Coalition’s public transport summit served as a call to action to State and Federal Governments. It is imperative that governments listen to this message and deliver the public transport improvements demanded by the community.

Eastern Transport Coalition Public Transport Summit

Published by Alex Makin on Friday 4th of July, 2008

The Eastern Transport Coalition represents one million residents across the seven eastern metropolitan councils within Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Today’s summit highlighted the need for public transport improvements within the eastern suburbs to become sustainable and accessible through providing transport choice for residents facing worsening traffic congestion and rising petrol prices. The theme includes the infrastructure needs of the region and included presentations on the need for new rail lines serving Rowville and Doncaster, as well as required improvements to the Belgrave and Lilydale rail lines.

The keynote speakers, Professors Peter Newman and Graham Currie, spoke about the importance of public transport in reducing greenhouse emissions and mitigating the effects of rising petrol prices. Both speakers reiterated the trend of rising petrol prices and demonstrated quite clearly that such increases were only going to continue.

While the Premier was unable to attend, Rob Hudson, the Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport, stated that the Government would release a new transport plan by the end of the year. While the State Government released Meeting Our Transport Challenges in 2006, the plan was widely condemned as being inadequate and failed to plan for any infrastructure improvements in the eastern suburbs. It is hoped that the government’s next plan will rectify these shortcomings.

The Opposition Leader, Ted Baillieu, spoke about the government’s litany of public transport plans and the increasing cost of inaction. While the opposition leader did not make any commitments, he did highlight the need for rail lines to Doncaster and Rowville.

The summit was extremely well attended by community members, as well as local councillors, State MPs and members of local environment and transport groups. Time was provided to allow attendees to discuss the needs of the eastern region and during this time the need for accessibility improvements on public transport was mentioned.

I spoke on the needs of the Belgrave/Lilydale lines and Ringwood with Cr. Samantha Dunn from the Shire of Yarra Ranges, who spoke about the need for rail duplications to improve the reliability of the line.

My presentation focused on the need for rail improvements between Box Hill and Ringwood and the importance of Ringwood as a regional centre within the eastern region. The expectations of eastern Melbourne and its 1 million residents were conveyed at this summit. The State Government must act and deliver the much needed public transport infrastructure, including the redevelopment of Ringwood Station, that is urgently required for the region

Please continue reading to view a copy of the speech I delivered at the summit.

(Read more…)

Eastern Transport Coalition - presentation from the National Transport Commission

Published by Alex Makin on Thursday 17th of April, 2008

Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition meeting included an update on the Federal urban transport paper which will be utilised by the ETC to convey the economic, social and environmental case for Federal leadership in the investment of urban public transport infrastructure.

The guest speaker was Karen Dowling from the National Transport Commission who spoke about the commission’s role within the Federal Government and the Infrastructure Working Group which operates through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

Infrastructure Australia has been appointed to advise governments on matters relating to nationally significant infrastructure, such as transport, energy, communications and water. Infrastructure Australia will serve as an advisory group to COAG.

Given that issues such as traffic congestion, social isolation and greenhouse emissions all have national costs it is imperative that the Federal Government begins to invest in urban public transport infrastructure. The Better Cities program of the early 1990s provided electrification to Cranbourne East and tram services to East Burwood and Bundoora. It is now time for the Federal Government to focus once again on the sustainability of our cities.

On Tuesday morning delegates of the Eastern Transport Coalition will be undertaking surveys at major transport interchanges to ascertain community attitudes on public transport. I will be at Ringwood Station from 7am to conduct these surveys.