Tag: department of infrastructure

Eastern Transport Coalition meeting – calling for State and Federal investment in public transport

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Tonight’s meeting of the Eastern Transport Coalition included a presentation from John Stone, project officer at GAMUT, the Australian Centre for the Governance and Management of Urban Transport.

John spoke about the case for Federal funding of public transport and the need for the Commonwealth to provide such funding in return for operational reforms at a State level. In Victoria such reforms should include the creation of a holistic statutory authority that is responsible for both roads and public transport. This would end the imbalance that exists between VicRoads and the Public Transport Division in the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) by ensuring that all transport projects are assessed equally. Furthermore reforms should include operational measures such as ensuring that buses connect with rail services, so as to provide an integrated transport system that functions as one network.

Requiring such reforms in return for federal funding would ensure that the Commonwealth would receive maximum return for its investment and would prevent waste at a state level. The fact that states such as Western Australia and Queensland have been able to invest in new rail lines after undertaking departmental reform demonstrates that rail extensions can be provided efficiently and economically.

Issues such as congestion and greenhouse emissions, are a national issue and it therefore requires a nationwide response through federal investment in urban public transport infrastructure. Federal involvement would not shift blame from State to Federal Governments but would instead provide accountability and ensure that State Governments would honour their commitments.

The Eastern Transport Coalition will be preparing a discussion paper to advance the campaign for federal involvement in urban public transport.

Eastern Transport Coalition: November meeting

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Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition covered a range of topics as the focus of the group begins to explore key issues that will be relevant for 2008.

The meeting included presentations from the Australian Greens and the Australian Democrats, both of whom are supportive of the need for federal involvement in urban public transport. While Family First, chose not to attend the meeting, I am aware that the Party has announced a policy supporting federal funding for public transport infrastructure.

This is significant, since each of the minor parties represented in Federal Parliament, support the notion of federal involvement in urban public transport. The discussions with the Greens and Democrats were fruitful, with both parties recognising the social, environmental and economic benefits of public transport improvements in the eastern suburbs and suggesting the use of the Senate as a method to raise awareness of the issue within Federal Parliament.

Regardless of the Federal election outcome, announcements such as the $80 million for the grade separation of Springvale Road Nunawading, provide a framework to advocate for partnerships between federal and local governments. This will allow public transport infrastructure to be included within such projects and allow both local and federal governments to hold the State government accountable for much needed public transport improvements.

The Eastern Transport Coalition has also continued its focus on the State Government with a presentation provided in regard to the Transport Legislation Review. The ETC will be authoring a submission that calls on the State Government to prioritise sustainable transport, as well as officially recognise the Government’s own target of increasing public transport modal share to 20% by the year 2020.

The current transport legislation review also draws into question the current lack of integration between VicRoads and the Public Transport Division of the Department of Infrastructure. While legislation may assist in improving outcomes, it will be hampered until physical integration between the Roads Authority (VicRoads) and the Public Transport Division is accomplished. VicRoads, as a statutory authority, enjoys a number of benefits that are not available to the public transport division which sits within the broader Department of Infrastructure.

This is clearly demonstrated in regard to the Maroondah Highway pedestrian crossing between Ringwood Station and Eastland. Despite the fact that the crossing is the most widely used within Maroondah, with over 5000 pedestrians daily, and links the Station with the retail and residential precincts of the Ringwood Transit City, VicRoads has currently been reluctant to improve the crossing.

Physical integration of government departments would follow examples in both Western Australia, with its integrated transport and planning department, and Queensland, which has a Coordinator-General’s department that as a statutory authority provides a whole of government referral authority.

The need for not just legislative integration but departmental integration is clear, with the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability stating that “A more streamlined approach to land use and transport integration in Victoria would be possible if a single strategic authority were established.”

It is anticipated that both the Legislation Review and the VCEC Inquiry to Melbourne’s Liveability will be a significant focus for the Eastern Transport Coalition in 2008, as we continue to call on the State Government to improve public transport in the eastern suburbs.

Melbourne 2030 Reference Group: 'Creating A City That Works'

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As part of today’s meeting of the Melbourne 2030 Reference Group I was invited to introduce the Eastern Transport Coalition and to discuss ‘Creating A City That Works’, a report compiled by the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability.

The presentation provided an opportunity to discuss the aims of the Eastern Transport Coalition and its goals on improving the sustainability of Melbourne’s eastern suburbs through advocating for public transport improvements.

The report, which was released in May 2007 examined the sustainability of Melbourne and had three key findings:

  • The need for stronger coordination between planning and transport
  • The need for better coordination between roads and public transport
  • The fact that current unsustainable urban trends, such as failing to provide effective public transport, cannot continue.

Passenger vehicles contribute 56% of Australia’s transport related emissions, meaning public transport and providing an alternative to car dependence, will be a requirement for any effective strategy that aims to reduce greenhouse emissions.

The current Victorian State Government has proposed legislation that will enshrine greenhouse reduction targets, these will not be achieved unless public transport is improved. The lack of a detailed action plan and interim targets for achieving the State Government’s goal of 20% public transport modal share by 2020 is particularly concerning.

public transport modal share (source: 07-08 State Budget)

While the number of people using public transport has increased, modal share according to the 2007-2008 State Budget papers has remained around 9%. The lack of interim targets and a detailed plan to achieve these goals makes it difficult to measure its progress. While the State Government continues to support its lacklustre transport strategy, Meeting Our Transport Challenges, the Commissioner demonstrated that the patronage targets were not ‘strongly reiterated as a policy that drives MoTC [Meeting Our Transport Challenges]’

Furthermore the Commissioner stated that “The 20/2020 target needs to be supported with a series of clear intermediate steps that show how it will be achieved.”

It is clear that the State Government must revise its transport policies if it intends to truly designate public transport as a priority.

The ongoing lack of coordination between public transport, roads and planning has had serious ramifications at a local level, particularly in regard to the Ringwood Transit City. State Government support for Ringwood has been marred with uncertainty, including the current lack of commitment over the much needed upgrade of Ringwood Station and improvements for pedestrians attempting to cross Maroondah Highway.

The desire to improve pedestrian access in Ringwood, such as providing less waiting time for pedestrians across Maroondah Highway has been continually stymied due to the lack of coordination between VicRoads and the Public Transport Division of the Department of Infrastructure.

Likewise the current inadequate rail frequencies beyond Ringwood, which result in a mere half hourly service during weekdays and an even worse frequency of bus services, restricts the potential for public transport to reduce car dependence within the centre of Ringwood.

As the ward councillor for much of the transit city area, I have been insisting on improvements to sustainability, such as footpath construction with new developments and water and energy sustainability, but a commitment from the State Government is required to ensure the provision of public transport improvements.

If coordination between State Government departments was improved and if an action plan and interim targets were developed to secure the goal of increasing public transport modal share to the 20% by 2020 then a commitment to the redevelopment of Ringwood Station and other public transport improvements would have been readily provided.

The next State Budget, due in May 2008, will test the State Government’s commitment to both Ringwood and our urban sustainability.

Transport Infrastructure for Victoria: The Challenges

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This afternoon I attended a CEDA lunch featuring a presentation from Howard Ronaldson, the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure (DOI). The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) is an independent think tank, which aims to promote the economic development of Australia in a sustainable and socially balanced way.

As part of its series of topics critical to the success of Victoria, CEDA organised the lunch presentation as an opportunity to explore the infrastructure issues facing Melbourne and Victoria. As Secretary of the DOI, Howard Ronaldson, has responsibility for ports, as well as the road and rail network.

Howard’s presentation largely included content from the State Government’s Meeting Our Transport Challenges, but did discuss the need for further integration between transport and planning particularly given the goals of Melbourne 2030 in encouraging public transport usage and the development of activity centres.

After the presentation I discussed the needs of Ringwood and Maroondah directly with Howard as an opportunity to reiterate the need for State Government action over Ringwood Station, particularly given that major projects, such as the new town centre, are likely to be delayed until a commitment to the redevelopment is made.

I also discussed the need for more frequent services beyond Ringwood, given Ringwood’s status as transit city and the high proportion of trips taken between Ringwood and Croydon, as well as from further east. The Belgrave and Lilydale lines currently have just a half-hourly service beyond Ringwood from 10am to 4pm during weekdays, despite the fact that services operate on a 20 minute frequency on weekends.

Given the desire to help shift peak hour travel demand to other times of the day and that more frequent services are clearly possible, it seems absurd that the State Government has not acted to provide at least a 20 minute frequency along the Belgrave / Lilydale line during weekdays.

Hopefully, progress will be made on these issues now that they have been raised directly with the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure.

MAV Transport and Infrastructure Advisory Group – May 2007 meeting

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This month’s Transport and Infrastructure Group included presentations from the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) who discussed the Federal Government’s AusLink program and Meredith Sussex, the Coordinator General of Infrastructure, who spoke about her role within the Department of Infrastructure.

The Melbourne 2030 review process, which is expected to formally include community input in the latter half of the year will be the key testament as to how seriously the government views the need to integrate land-use planning and transport. While Melbourne 2030 and the Government’s Meeting Our Transport Challenges both claimed to provide such integration, reality has demonstrated that this is still sorely lacking.

The Age: A Dad's Army of shunted carriages called up in crisis

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In an example of the lack of foresight typical of the former Minister for Transport, Peter Batchelor, The Age has revealed that the State Government has been forced to hire back the non air-conditioned Hitachi trains due to a shortage of rollingstock. The rollingstock shortage has been further compounded due to the withdrawal of 31 Siemens trains which were withdrawn from service after experiencing braking failure.

THE Victorian Government has been forced to lease six old Hitachi train carriages from a volunteer rail group and buy three from a private seller to cope with the city’s chronic train shortage.

In 2003, the Department of Infrastructure’s (DOI) Train Plan warned of an impending train shortage due to rising patronage and the need to improve service levels. Unfortunately the State Government, under the reins of former Minister for Transport, Peter Batchelor, chose to ignore this advice despite similar concerns being shared by groups such as the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA).

Alex Makin, vice-president of the Public Transport Users Association, said the Government made a “serious error” by scrapping most of its Hitachi trains when it began introducing newer models.

Mr Makin said the PTUA had lobbied the Government to “augment” the Hitachis with the new trains, not replace them.

“This demonstrates that the Victorian Government has realised far too late that it scrapped the Hitachi fleet prematurely,” Mr Makin said. “As a result, rail passengers are suffering. The State Government is ultimately responsible, but they’re quite happy to let (rail operator) Connex wear the blame.”

This lack of foresight has the caused the State Government into an embarrassing and financially irresponsible backflip where it must now purchase the Hitachi trains for considerable higher sums than they were sold.

The department is expected to pay private seller John Horne about $60,000 for three more carriages.

A source told The Sunday Age Mr Horne bought the carriages a few years ago for $2600 each. “It’s certainly a good deal for (Mr Horne), put it that way,” the source said.

Connex has once again been ordered to defend the inactions of the State Government by refusing to acknowledge its mistakes. As revealed by the poor state of rail maintenance and the endless myriad of excuses, Connex simply losing its grip in handling Melbourne’s rail network.

But Connex spokesman Andrew Cassidy said any suggestion that the Hitachi fleet should have been retained was “ludicrous”.

“The Hitachi trains were at the end of their working life,” Mr Cassidy said. “Many were 30 years old. This would have made it prohibitively expensive to continue to maintain them in a safe operating condition.

The comments by Connex demonstrate the failure of the company to have any concern over the needs of Melbourne’s rail network. The Hitachi trains are mechanically very reliable and were expected to have a life expectancy similar to the Tait trains, which were in service for well over 50 years.

“We would have been forced to invest more and more to keep them running, which would have tied up resources that could not be used to improve services. In the end, customers would have made a loss, not a gain.”

In fact it is ‘ludicrous’ of Connex to claim that resources would have prevented Connex from maintaining the Hitachi fleet. Both the State Government and Connex knew since 2003 that there was a shortage of rollingstock and the endless excuses Connex uses to fudge its ongoing poor performance demonstrates that both the State Government and Connex have failed to adequately maintain its fleet to a high level of service.

ABC 774: Discussing Melbourne rail woes

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This evening I was invited to discuss the discuss the ongoing dramas and inconvenience suffered by Melbourne’s rail passengers on ABC’s Radio 774.

The interview, which included a number of talkback callers, focused on the endless excuses used by Connex to defend its ever diminishing performance in operating Mekbourne’s rail network. While it is correct that the Kennett Government initially privatised Melbourne’s rail system, the Bracks Government chose to re-privatise the system in 2004 and in doing so removed a number of checks and balances that existed within the initial contracts.

In fact, when M>Train abandoned Melbourne’s rail network in 2004, the former Minister for Transport Peter Batchelor, stated publicly that the government was not going to consider inviting new tenders, or return Melbourne’s rail network back to government control. As a result Connex succeeded in diminishing reporting and accountability requirements and the State Government is now in a situation where the subsidy for Connex increases every year without any corresponding service improvements.

The State Government knew there was both a looming train and driver shortage when it entered into the new contracts in 2004. Connex was offered lower reporting standards so that the State Government could avoid taking responsibility for a problem it created. Despite annual subsidiary to Connex the State Government is now taking on responsibilities that were previously the domain of the private operators. In 2004 the State Government refused a request by M>Train to fund additional driver training programs, citing that it was the responsibility of the operator to fund its own driver programs. Despite this, the State Government through its Meeting Our Transport Challenges document, is now funding additional driver training programs and purchasing additional trains, which will be delivered almost a decade after the government knew about impending train shortages.

The issue of the fare boycott was also discussed and while Melbourne’s public transport users should voice their disgust over the latest rail debacles, this must be directed towards the State Government which holds ultimate responsibility for the rail network. Public transport users would achieve better results contacting their local MP, the Premier and the Public Transport Minister rather than attempting a fare boycott.

It is clear that the State Government must take responsibility for its poor handling of Melbourne’s rail network rather than simply trying to hide Connex as it lurches from one blunder through to another.

Meeting the new Minister for Public Transport

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Today, as part of delegation through the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), I met the new Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky. While the meeting was largely introductory in nature it was encouraging to see the Minister take on board a number of concerns shared by the PTUA.

Unlike her predecessor, Minister Kosky has a history in local government, being a former Councillor and later Mayor of Footscray City Council. This community orientated background should hopefully mean that the new Minister will be more responsive to community needs.

While the organisational structure of the Department of Infrastructure is still unnecessarily burdensome, it is hoped that Minister Kosky will be able to succeed in delivering the much needed public transport improvements required for Melbourne’s future economic, social and environmental success.

Melbourne requires a comprehensive public transport system that provides real transport choice. This will only be achieved through expanding the rail and tram network and ensuring that bus services are fast, frequent, readily available and direct. Such improvements would ensure progress towards the goal of increasing public transport modal share to 20% by the year 2020.
The initial meeting with Minister Kosky was both positive and productive and I trust that she will take this opportunity to rectify Melbourne’s public transport deficiencies. If so, then I wish Lynne Kosky the best of success.

MAV Transport and Infrastructure Advisory Group – Local Area Access Programs

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The Municipal Association of Victoria’s (MAV) Transport and Infrastructure Advisory Group consists of councillors and representatives from Victoria’s councils to gain an insight into the transport and infrastructure needs across Melbourne and Victoria.

Today’s meeting including a presentation from the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) on funding available for Local Area Access Programs and the latest incarnation of TravelSmart.  The Local Area Access Program provides the opportunity for councils to request funding for infrastructure works that strengthen walking and community participation within a municipality.

During this meeting I raised the issues surrounding the lack of pedestrian guidelines during roadside construction works as mentioned during Maroondah’s Disability Forum. The MAV as the collective voice for local government in Victoria will pursue these issues further.

Metropolitan Transport Forum: Optimum Institutional Arrangements for Public Transport

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Maroondah City Council through the Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC) is an associate member of the Metropolitan Transport Forum, which like the ETC is an advocacy group comprising of metropolitan local governments.

The Metropolitan Transport Forum meets on a monthly basis and typically includes a presentation focused on a specific transport related issue.  The August meeting included a presentation and report by Dr. Rolf Bergmaier who investigated the current institutional arrangements in regard to transport and planning.

Dr. Rolf Bergmaier’s report found that the current bureaucratic structure is skewed heavily in favour to VicRoads, which as a statutory authority is able to speak publicly on government policy and includes its own budgetary allocation.  In contrast to the Public Transport Division of the Department of Infrastructure Dr. Bergmaier found that the additional layers of bureaucracy faced by the Public Transport Division made it difficult to directly interact with the Minister for Transport or to conduct sufficient public consultation.

As has been evidenced throughout the last seven years the current flawed arrangements are costly and can prevent the achievement of outcomes acceptable to the community. This is evident through the cost blowouts and project delays experienced on public transport related projects such as the Craigieburn rail extension and the Knox tram extension and the producing of flawed plans for the grade separation of Middleborough Road.

The streamlining of Victoria’s current institutional arrangements to provide an integrated transport authority where roads and public transport are assessed on equal merits and from budgetary allocation is not a new concept. The Premier’s hand picked Infrastructure Planning Council made this very same recommendation back in 2002 and likewise the draft congestion inquiry report compiled by the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) has also identified the need for reform.

The Bracks Government needs to follow the lead of their Western Australian counterparts and create an integrated transport and planning authority. This approach which resulted in a combined transport budget has seen renewed expansion of the rail network, a redesign of the bus network to ensure operational and service efficiencies and the integration of land use planning to maximise the potential for sustainable transport. 

As has been seen over the past seven years the economic and social costs of mismanagement and waste can have a crippling effect on the provision of infrastructure and service delivery resulting in costly and inferior outcomes for the community.

In 2002 the Bracks Government ignored this advice and as a result has presided over the mismanagement of a myriad of public transport related projects. It would be absolute folly for the Government to once again ignore this advice.