The launch of this blog
March 17th, 2008 at 8:27pm
Our city is under threat. The big end of town have been lobbying the ALP State Government for years, to one end: more and bigger roads, run by private companies.
Their plan goes against everything that we understand about cities
- that freeways increase congestion, rather than reducing it;
- that cities which go down that route find the rising cost is a drain on their economy, their health, their happiness;
- that the reality of climate change means public transport must grow to take on the bulk of the transport task.
To defeat this nightmare and make a Greener Melbourne, we must inform ourselves, we must link up, we must organise. That’s why we launched this blog.
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Authorised by Greg Barber, 377 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne.
Just testing!
Don’t forget bicycles!
“I’ve had enough and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Almost every morning I have visions of hearing the masses scream this as they pour from grossly overcrowded trains and march up to the steps of Parliament House. They are finally baying for Government hides, in the realisation that no amount of spin or tinkering around the edges from Connex is enough to fix their sick transport system… wishful thinking perhaps.
Back to reality, where arriving at Melbourne Central this week I’ve been handed a glossy PR brochure about how Connex are “moving people every day” and how there’s a “new plan for Melbourne’s train network”. Great spin, but where are the Epping and Hurstbridge lines in ‘April service changes’? Answer is, nowhere to be seen. As for ‘November service changes’, apparently all trains will follow the same direction on the loop and this will produce (wait for it…) one whole additional morning peak train!
Passengers already can’t board overcrowded trains at Clifton Hill - when you do eventually squeeze onto a late service, one is subjected to being jammed face against the window, alighting and reboarding at every station to let others exit, then having limbs caught in doors due to the crush. This is already happening, thus it’s patently obvious that ‘one additional morning peak train’ in November won’t make a shred of difference. Where on earth is the relief when services already simply cannot cope? More’s the question, how can more people be expected to catch public transport in a carbon constrained world when there’s no scope at all for growth?
New lines and infrastructure on a huge scale are desperately needed, not one more service 6 months down the track, not even existing services running on time and certainly not more PR spin. Gliding daily over the carbon-belching carpark that is the Eastern Freeway nearing Hoddle Street, one cannot help wonder how many more of those commuters from out Doncaster way will add to the chaos once petrol reaches $1.70, $1.80 or $2.00 a litre? Already the streets surrounding my home are clogged daily with cars from outer suburbs whose drivers join the train crush at Clifton Hill station.
Guaranteed, a decade of inaction and non-investment in public transport is coming back to bite the Government on its proverbial in 2010, but in the meantime we all have to suffer daily. The public transport timebomb has been ticking a long time - with the combined pressures of population growth and peak oil prices, how could they possibly not see it coming?
With a bit of real vision and the $10 billion it would otherwise take to build an insane and short-sighted freeway tunnel, the Government could do alot for public transport and this city’s future livability, perhaps even save their own bacon. So Premier Brumby and Minister Kosky, what are you going to do about it - like right now?
For starters, I believe we should;
- double the frequency of trains and trams on existing lines, then build new ones
- make public transport free, reducing the need for expensive ticketing systems and ‘ticket police’ - equivelent funds could be raised by increasing road tax on cars (to further discourage their use) or by introducing a tax levy.
- Improve the cycleways and progressively reduce on-street parking and turn it into new cycle lanes.
- Introduce congestion tax for private cars.
- In summary, invest the money in environmentally and socially sustainable public transport and cycleway systems.
My wish list:
* regular buses along johnson street. more cross town transport
*extend PT to outer suburbs. stop building more outer suburbs
*a space on the side of the road where i can ride my bike safely
* ‘tough new laws’ for perpetrator of road rage
*eased water restrictions for vegie growers
*preserve the green spaces which allow us respite from the relentless smoke, noise, and nullity of urban existence. and where we get to see birds ducks and insects again.
* more money for neighbourhood houses
*make landlords insulate our houses properly
*more houses for our homeless - camping now in tents in state forest
*supermarkets not to throw out food but resell it cheaply
*commercial incentives to use less packaging
And Moreland residents also say no clearway extensionsn inner Melbourne.
I just don’t get it! public transport=cheaper=decreased congestion=cleaner!!!!!!!!!
And, of course, they pick on the parks don’t they. (JJ Holland, and Royal).
I’m all in for public transport as a solution to congestion.
The City of Melbourne will be holding a meeting of the Planning Committee on 3 June 2008 at 6.30pm at the Town Hall at which the Councillors wil discuss the City of Melbourne’s response to the Eddington report. Council officers have prepared a response and the docement they have prepared is available oh the CoM website at
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=247&pg=1801&mtg=438&upg=1800 . Their submission is titled “City of Melbourne Submissions to State Government on the East West Link Needs Assessment (EWLNA) Recommendations”.
At the meeting on the 3rd the committee will consider the Council oficer response to the Eddington Report and recommend changes or adoption of the report. I urge you to attend this meeting.The City of Melbourne are the owners JJ Holland Park, in trust for all of us and can recommend that the park not be used for a tunnel exit and construction site.
I live near Sth Kensington train station and unfortunately travel to the city each day by car. The reason I drive in is it’s quicker, less stressful and more convenient. We need services from Sth Kensington that are more frequent and go through the loop. For instance the train lines from Sth Kensington does not stop at Parliament station and requires change over at Nth Melbourne. The problem then is that it is so crowded you can’t get on. There is no train during peak hour from Parliament station that goes direct to Sth Kensington. It is ludicrous that if you catch a Sydenham line (which goes through Sth Kensington, but does not stop) you need to change over at Nth Melbourne and wait up to 20 minutes to catch another line. Why can’t the Sydenham line stop at Sth Kensington?
The proposed tunnel will do nothing to assist those residents living in inner city circles who need to get to the CBD. It wil destroy our parks, pollute our environment and negatively impact on our neighbourhood. The Government need to invest in massive public transport infrastructure. The system is already at breaking point. With petrol prices on the rise, population increases, frustrated and angry commuters and a Government with no vision for a sustainable city -it is sad state of affairs which must be addressed.
Here’s a Save Holland Park video I put together - as a conversation starter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Mr7gsGVoA
Even Perth? Sheesh … we’re not that far behind the times over here out West
We do have a great public transport system that just works (www.transperth.wa.gov.au) with integrated timetables between the buses, trains and ferry. Electronic ticketing all the way at low cost to the passenger. There’s simply no need to use cars anymore.
Don’t do another “Cross City Tunnel” … look at the mess that Sydney has paid for, and nobody uses it.
Brissie, Sydney and Melbourne have a lot to learn from smaller cities like Perth in this regard.
I am one of the lesser number who actually does need to cross town to get to work and gave up catching the train a couple of years ago due to the inability to board the train at West Footscray primarily in the morning peak time.
The tunnel does nothing to reduce my time to get to work in neither the morning nor evening. Each morning the traffic report says the Bolte is backed back to Footscray Rd, where I would like to join CityLink. What is the point? After many different experiments to find the quickest route from West Footscray, believe it or not the quickest way for me to get to South Yarra is to drive right through the centre of the city down Williams St.
Bring on better public transport and I will gladly leave the car in the driveway……….
We live in West Footscray and we both ride our bikes into work in the CBD and Carlton.
We should invest more time in planning and executing new bike paths and encouraging residents
in the 10KM diameter to ride to work.
Work places should get involved and encourage their employees to ride to work by installing facilities
for bike storage, locker rooms and showers. Healthy body = healthy mind = increased productivity.
The proposed tunnel will lace the current problem with traffic congestions and create more problems to residential areas
surrounding the proposed roads.
Invest in upgrading the public transport system and creating new bike paths.
It’s’ about time the Victorian government stops being arrogant and starts listening to the people who pay taxes. We want our money spent on public transport infrastructure. The history of spending on this essential piece has been dismal. Labor need to act now and really invest in trains and other public transport infrastructure items for the future of the state and as a real solution to transporting the growing outer suburbs into the city and back every day.
I will be supporting any group that can promise an end to this tyranny by the road and truck lobbies. I want to know that my kids will be able to live in this city as well.
This current government is out, this latest proposal of building more roads to join two roads that are not working now will be the last straw.
Can your petition against extended clearways please be made downloadable from this site? Maybe it is already but I can’t find it.
Roads are not the answer. Rising fule & mortgage costs, and climate change make the choice of yet another tollway ludicrous. Improve the public transport network and bike routes, and try & encourage people to leave their cars at home, and tackle the increasing rate of obesity at the same time!
here’s a petition against clearways from the stonnington traders, with a link to their website
http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/say-no-to-melbourne-clearways-extensions.html
A wonderful initiative and the best way t orid my ordinary Moreland ocuncil of its ALP dominance - good luck.
I agree. Building new roads is not correct solution to the congestion. We need to invest in public transporation (railways, trams, public buses, taxes on cars etc) to reduce global warming.
I hate trains. More roads please.
More trains, more buses, more trams - how much easier does it get? Look at dozens of European cities and you’ll find incredible bus or tram networks, efficient and very regular underground and overground trains, and some cope with populations two, three, four times the size of Melbourne.
Bikes have a place too, but it’s not realistic to imagine people moving into those McMansions 20 to 40km from the city cycling into work in the CBD; similarly, we need to remember that our population is ageing and not everyone is physically able to cycle. Why not make it a condition of building new housing estates that funding is provided for public transport infrastructure, such as one new low-floor bus for every 20 houses built? The cost of tickets would easily pay a driver’s salary
I’m even in favour of extending clearways, but only ‘after hours’ to minimise the impact on traders - try sitting on a bus on Lonsdale Street at 6.31pm and you’ll see why clearways need to be extended: it often takes as long to get out of the CBD as it does to get up the freeway to Blackburn.
Let’s increase the cost of fuel through a ‘green’ tax , somehow targeting those who live in the inner burbs close to transport. The proceeds would be used to boost public transport, at the same time as reducing our impact on climate change.
More trains, more buses, more trams - how much easier does it get? Look at dozens of European cities and you’ll find incredible bus or tram networks, efficient and very regular underground and overground trains, and some cope with populations two, three, four times the size of Melbourne.
Bikes have a place too, but it’s not realistic to imagine people moving into those McMansions 20 to 40km from the city cycling into work in the CBD; similarly, we need to remember that our population is ageing and not everyone is physically able to cycle. Why not make it a condition of building new housing estates that funding is provided for public transport infrastructure, such as one new low-floor bus for every 20 houses built? The cost of tickets would easily pay a driver’s salary.
I’m even in favour of extending clearways, but only ‘after hours’ to minimise the impact on traders - try sitting on a bus on Lonsdale Street at 6.31pm and you’ll see why clearways need to be extended: it often takes as long to get out of the CBD as it does to get up the freeway to Blackburn.
Let’s increase the cost of fuel through a ‘green’ tax , somehow targeting those who live in the inner burbs close to transport. The proceeds would be used to boost public transport, at the same time as reducing our impact on climate change.
More trains, more buses, more trams - how much easier does it get? Look at dozens of European cities and you’ll find incredible bus or tram networks, efficient and very regular underground and overground trains, and some cope with populations two, three, four times the size of Melbourne.
Bikes have a place too, but it’s not realistic to imagine people moving into those McMansions 20 to 40km from the city cycling into work in the CBD; similarly, we need to remember that our population is ageing and not everyone is physically able to cycle. Why not make it a condition of building new housing estates that funding is provided for public transport infrastructure, such as one new low-floor bus for every 20 houses built? The cost of tickets would easily pay a driver’s salary.
I’m even in favour of extending clearways, but only ‘after hours’ to minimise the impact on traders - try sitting on a bus on Lonsdale Street at 6.31pm and you’ll see why clearways need to be extended: it often takes as long to get out of the CBD as it does to get up the freeway to Blackburn.
Let’s increase the cost of fuel through a ‘green’ tax, somehow targeting those who live in the inner burbs close to transport. The proceeds would be used to boost public transport, at the same time as reducing our impact on climate change.
There is one thing that really annoys me, which is that buses go onto a summer timetable and the the bus companies don’t bother to change he timetables at bus stops. So people are left a the bus stop not knowing when or if the bus is coming.
I intend to write to the bus companies before summer to ask them to keep us better informed this year
Maybe other people might like to do the same.
The Vic government has a really terrible record in recent times on almost anything to do with the environment. All of their so called long term solutions involve engaging large contractors to do major works without adequate public discussion. Solutions to existing problems such as dredging the bay, desalination, piping water from the Murray and the East West tollway are one stop shop solutions. they lack real vision and allow the government to avoid tackling complex, difficult issues as part of their on going commitment to the public.
vin
No road tunnel. Rail to Doncaster, Rowville, Mernda, Aurora, Cranbourne East, Melton, Airport. No more freeways
I think the road tunnel proposal is a stupid spend.
Public Transport is the only way our city will grow sustainably. Invest the money into public transport infrastrucutre. We need safe, frequent, cheap, public transport that services not only direct passage to the city but also allows fast cross suburb travel (option - express buses from hub train stations on different train lines).
Lynn Kosky what are you doing? ‘Myki’ is a joke and the total lack of public transport infrastructure spending is a joke too…. ooooh weee $115mil spent on a 10km extension of the Cragieburn line…. come on, that is a lame excuse for progress. The line was already there, all you did was build a new station and electrify it. And if that is the ball park, then we’re looking at 4 to 6billion to ‘get this city rolling’!
Maybe we should bypass this ’sit on hands’ State Gov and get Kev to open up the ‘future fund’ piggy bank…. he said theres $20Bil for infrastructure… being a major city we gotta be worth at least 2 or 3bil! That would at least get the ball rolling.
Greg…. keep pushing!