Im thoroughly fed up with the blanket advertising by the Vic govt on its public transport plans as a way of papering over its commitment of vast amounts of money to small increments in road infrastructure. I spent quite some time on the Lib and ptv websites trying to pin down the details of these exciting commitments to public transport: in google, most links related back to the 2010 election, which maybe says something.... Anyway, here is what Ive found: * the Melbourne Rail link (including airport link) is to be finished by 2026. I know engineers who worked on the previous proposal for years, who are appalled at the casual way that well developed proposal was dumped for a fantasy solution that has little costing etc.... * the Avalon airport rail link: no date, but consultation finishes on 27 October 2014..... * The Cranbourne-Pakenham upgrade (effectively designed and controlled by a partnership that didnt even have to bid for it) is to increase line capacity by 30% by 2019. In some ways this is the kind of project we need: many small but significant improvements integrated into a package. But the governance smells. * The regional rail project - developed by Labor, not this govt, will be complete by early 2015 * the Doncaster rail project has $6.5 million allocated for a study. Dont hold your breath on this one. * there are plans for 8 new urban trains (first due in 2015) - I think all (or almost all) of the trains delivered so far were order under Labor, but I couldnt find any information on that. Also 43 V-line carriages (not trains!) have been ordered. I find it annoying that both main parties keep describing separation of rail from roads as rail projects when the beneficiaries are clearly road users. Policy makers also need to understand some fundamental physics that has been explained to them many times: in growing cities, cars and their support infrastructure simply occupy too much space that conflicts with effective functioning of urban areas. Transport policy makers also need to come to grips with the significance of virtual transport solutions that avoid or reduce physical travel, allow people to use time better while travelling (eg Wi-Fi on PT), Telstra has published some interesting papers on this. electric bikes (and trikes), electric low speed local freight vehicles have enormous potential to help with local travel up to 10-15 km trip lengths, but have been completely ignored by policy makers. And a decent map of bike paths and lanes across the metropolitan area would be really good. The present situation is a shambles. Good signage and completion of gaps would also help. In particular, the steps on the Yarra Trail are a disaster. I believe millions have been allocated to addressing this, but I suspect a much cheaper solution is available: A simple pair of open air lifts (solar powered of course) would fit in the existing space and be much cheaper. But maybe political parties want to be seen to spend lots of money on icon projects that can be deferred in times of tight budgets...... Lastly, after numerous plans we REALLY have to start re-organising our city and suburbs to minimise the need for travel to access services and social activities, including building local community social capital. My apprenticeship in energy, the book Seeds for Change, published in 1978, is still more practically focused than recent planning strategies.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 00:17:16 +0000