Sydney transport needs a demand strategy

 25 May 2010

The Sydney Business Chamber said that the revelation the NSW Government has no money for roads reinforces the need for a transport demand strategy to reduce congestion.

The Sydney Business Chamber and NSW Business Chamber outlined the need for a transport demand strategy as part of the 10 Big Ideas to Grow NSW.

“The NSW Government’s transport strategy has failed.  It’s time to put in place a demand strategy for our transport network,” said Patricia Forsythe, Executive Director of the Sydney Business Chamber.

“The Government has developed an attitude that is indifferent to congestion and the resulting costs that are placed on businesses and commuters.

“The Government has released glossy plan after plan of road upgrades, new rail links and bus corridors and now its been revealed they have no money to build any of it. 

Mrs Forsythe said the decision to remove the M4 toll was an example that the Government was more interested in short-term opportunism instead of the long-term transport needs for Sydney.

“The Government had the opportunity to retain the M4 toll to invest in more infrastructure including the M4 East but they threw the opportunity away.”

Mrs Forsythe said that if the Government couldn’t secure funds to build Sydney’s missing transport links then they had to implement a demand strategy as a matter of necessity.

“We need a demand strategy for our transport network – a strategy that will use what we already have in transport infrastructure more effectively.”

“The challenge for transport in Sydney is not necessarily a lack of infrastructure, it’s the peak demand in the morning and afternoons that brings Sydney to a halt. 

“We need to shift commuting times over a longer period instead of having every Sydneysider trying to get to work at 9am.

Mrs Forsythe said that the Government could introduce a range of measures to spread the peak and reduce congestion including:

• Trialling 10am starting school hours for high school students;
• Variable tolling – implementing of peak, shoulder and off-peak pricing;
• Peak, shoulder and off-peak pricing of public transport;
• Public sector employees encouraged to start work during non-peak periods;
• Private sector incentives to shift hours away from traditional working hours;
• Incentives to encourage car pooling;
• Greater use of GPS, web and app technology to assist in trip planning; and
• Encourage greater housing density close to employment areas.

“We need to change the way we run our transport network if we don’t want to be stuck in gridlock on our motorways and jammed into overcrowded trains and buses.”