The PTUA’s Outer East Convenor Jeremy Lunn said that spending billions on the new freeway at the expense of investment in public transport would maintain car dependency for another generation.

“The problems of growing traffic congestion and spiralling petrol prices will not be solved by this new road. Public transport is non-existent or woefully inadequate for most of Melbourne’s growing east.”

Mr Lunn said that the real solution was increased investment in public transport to provide a real alternative to driving.

The PTUA has identified ten projects, which could be implemented in the next two years a fraction of the $2.5 billion cost to construct Eastlink. They are:

• Springvale Road Bus Lanes to be completed by late 2008
• Bus priority at all traffic lights in the eastern suburbs
• Grade separation of Mitcham Road, Rooks Road and Springvale Road level crossings
• Upgrade off-peak daytime, evening and weekend train services on Belgrave, Lilydale, Glen Waverley and Alamein lines to operate at least every ten minutes
• Extension of tram route 48 to Doncaster Shoppingtown
• Extension of tram route 75 to Knox City
• Upgrade of route 733 Box Hill to Clayton (Middleborough Road) and 693 Belgrave to Oakleigh (Ferntree Gully Road) to SmartBus frequencies
• Duplication of single track sections on the Belgrave and Lilydale railway lines
• Construction of Lyndhurst station and the duplication of single track sections between Dandenong and Cranbourne
• Upgrade local bus services to operate at a minimum half hourly frequency between 6am and 10pm

“For a tenth of the cost of Eastlink we could provide a genuine public transport alternative for Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, providing much needed relief for families and businesses. The Brumby Government must get its act together and provide sustainable transport options. The community can’t afford to wait,” Mr Lunn concluded.

It’s clear from emissions figures that public transport is the greenest option, with carbon emissions far below those of cars.

Climate scientists are increasingly flagging that emissions have to be drastically reduced, and quickly, and meanwhile family budgets are suffering enormously from spiralling petrol prices. It could take hybrid cars decades to become a substantial proportion of the car fleet, and even then, they reduce fuel consumption and emissions by only about 30%.

A trip in an a “green” Toyota Prius hybrid still generates around five times the emissions of a trip by electric train. And while electric trams and trains can have their emissions cut to zero if they are switched to 100% Green Power (as Yarra Trams is trialling now), emissions from fossil-fuel powered vehicles are going to get worse in future, because oil is running out, so more effort will be needed to get it out of the ground. Extremely polluting alternatives such as shale oil, tar sands and coal-to-liquids would cause even more emissions.

Providing better public transport, running frequently across all suburbs, would help more families to cut their driving, not only protecting them from future petrol price rises, but cutting emissions as well. A substantial upgrade in services is a vital step towards achieving a big cut in transport-related carbon emissions.

Sources:

• Car emissions: Green Vehicle Guide
• Estimated Hybrid Camry emissions: Sydney Morning Herald 10/6/2008
• Car emissions were divided by 1.22, which is the average Melbourne car occupancy figure for 2005/06, sourced from VicRoads.
• Public transport emissions — this is based on operating energy figures per mode, government figures on emissions from power generation, and typical peak-hour passenger loads. Trams are higher than expected because of the low capacity of some older trams, and inefficient operation due to lack of traffic priority and some routes which terminate in quiet areas, rather than at nearby shopping centres or railway stations.

Figures in Excel format (27Kb)

In launching their “Every 10 minutes to everywhere” plan at a climate change and transport forum at Melbourne Town Hall on Sunday, PTUA president Daniel Bowen noted the urgency for action on climate change, and said that it was time to provide people right across Melbourne and regional cities with a viable alternative to driving.

“The focus in the past decades has been on CBD peak-hour commuters”, said Mr Bowen, “and that market has been won. Around 80% of motorised trips into Melbourne’s CBD on weekdays is by public transport. But for trips elsewhere, the share is only 9%, and it has barely moved in years.”

In highlighting the aspects of high quality public transport that were needed to get people out of cars, Mr Bowen said that long waiting times in particular were the biggest problem. “When the waiting time for your train, tram or bus exceeds the total time it would take you if you just drove, the car is always going to win,” he said.

The PTUA plan envisages a network of services right across Melbourne, running every 10 minutes from 6am to midnight, 7 days a week. The network would include trams, trains, and buses along every main road, to form a “web” of services enabling anyone to travel from anywhere to anywhere by public transport with a minimum of waiting.

As part of the plan, minor tram extensions would be built to ensure tram routes terminated in shopping centres and interchange to the rail network was improved. Electric trains would be extended or electrified to South Morang and Mernda, Sunbury, Rowville via Monash, Doncaster and Cranbourne East, to keep up with rapidly growing outer-suburbs. Trams and buses would get more priority at intersections to speed up trips, and the roll-out of accessible trams and tram stops would be accelerated.

Staff would be on every station, and after midnight a comprehensive Nightrider bus network would run every half-hour to ensure shift-workers and party-goers also had a public transport option.

Similar services would be rolled out in Victoria’s regional cities and towns, where currently the only viable public transport is often the train service to Melbourne, and virtually all other trips are done by car.

Mr Bowen said that most of the plan could be implemented within five years, and did not require expensive infrastructure. “We already have enough trains and trams to run them more frequently outside peak hours, including evenings and weekends. Some buses would be needed, and some sections of single track on the rail network would need duplicating, but by and large the infrastructure and fleet are already capable of this; costs would be mostly in employing extra driving staff — which is cheap compared to building multi-billion dollar tunnels.”

Mr Bowen added that extra peak hour services were also possible. “Once we use the City Loop to its full potential, the real need is not for more tracks but for more trains, to replace the ones the government foolishly scrapped five years ago.

“If the government is serious about getting people out of cars, providing fast, frequent public transport right across Melbourne is not an option — it’s essential, to move quickly on climate change, to provide relief from petrol prices, and get people out of cars”, concluded Mr Bowen.

15th June: Slides are now available

Public transport users at front in war on climate change

Public transport users are leading the battle against dangerous climate change, the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) said today.

“The transport sector is one of the largest and fastest growing sources of greenhouse pollution,” said PTUA President Daniel Bowen. “By using public transport instead of driving, people can slash their carbon emissions and help reverse that growth. Emissions from public transport are around a tenth that of car travel.”

Mr Bowen said the latest climate science to be presented at a forum at Melbourne Town Hall on Sunday, demonstrates the need for urgent cuts to transport emissions. “Many eminent people are rightfully calling this a ‘climate emergency’. Time is running out before we risk turning earth’s climate into something never before seen in the history of human civilisation.”

Sunday’s forum - ‘Speeding towards dangerous climate change’ - will hear from David Spratt, the co-author of a new book to be released at the end of the month. Mr Spratt’s book, Climate Code Red, meticulously documents extensive scientific evidence that the global warming crisis is far worse than official reports and national governments have indicated, and that we’re almost at the point of no return.

“Transport is already the largest energy guzzler in Australia, with road transport the biggest culprit,” said Mr Bowen. “With rising oil prices, there are now plans to turn coal into liquid fuel which will send emissions through the roof. Even hybrid cars may only cut emissions by a small amount overall. We desperately needs solutions that provide an escape from high fuel prices as well as saving us from dangerous climate change. Solutions like better facilities for cycling and walking, and boosted public transport.”

The transport and climate forum starts at 2:30pm on Sunday in the Supper Room at Melbourne Town Hall, which has been made available by the City of Melbourne. More information is available at: www.ptua.org.au

“Addressing climate change is urgent. Measures like hybrid cars are only a small part of the solution. A lot more needs to be done to slash emissions, and public transport users are already on the right track,” concluded Mr Bowen.

Forum details

15th June: Slides are now available

“The government needs to get its transport priorities right and fund Rowville rail immediately,” said Jeremy Lunn, the PTUA’s Outer East Convenor. “It is just not good enough to keep snubbing outer eastern residents when they’ve been waiting patiently for effective action over so many years.”

Mr Lunn has dismissed the government’s frequently-repeated excuse about needing to wait for patronage data from the route 900 Wellington Road SmartBus before making any decision.

“The SmartBus has been operating for over a year and a half now. They’ve had plenty of time to do their evaluation.”

Mr Lunn also warned that relying on patronage figures from a bus service is not adequate, because just looking at the bus service will not provide completely valid data.

“You have to look at total travel demand in the area, including all modes of transport, not just the current restricted bus service,” he said.

It is clear that the current bus service lacks capacity, given that at least 22,000 students are studying at Monash University in Clayton.

“The railway service will provide the sort of capacity that no bus service can match, as well as quicker travel times. And the Wellington Road SmartBus doesn’t have a complete network of other frequent bus services linking into it. So there are many factors which severely limit the bus’s patronage.”

The PTUA has also slammed the government’s excuse that there is a lack of capacity on the current rail system to cater for the Rowville extension. Mr Lunn said that the PTUA has looked closely at this claim and finds it lacks validity.

“Rowville trains would only be sharing tracks with express trains on a short section between Oakleigh and Caulfield. The Government is already proposing extra trains on the Dandenong line terminating at Westall, only two stops from Huntingdale, where Rowville trains will branch off.”

Mr Lunn said that these additional train services could operate to Rowville.

“With high petrol prices that residents in the outer east are being forced to endure, Mr Brumby needs to provide a genuine alternative. A full feasibility study needs to be completed including detailed designs for Rowville railway line.”