Ignoring lessons
By Sid Spindler
The Kennett government is ignoring the lessons of overseas countries in building more roads at the expense of public transport.
In Los Angeles, drivers inch along 12-lane expressways. In Bangkok, office workers suffocate on packed buses for an average of two and a half hours a day. In Paris, the average speed of road transport has fallen to 9.5 km an hour — slower than horse-drawn carriages of the last century.
The demand for roads is insatiable. They fill up as fast as they can be built. The road systems in London and New York, for example, now take up nearly one quarter of the total city area.
Governments all over the world are now turning to rebuild neglected public transport systems. In Los Angeles, modern light rail services are being built, and the city is introducing heavy rail services onto its old freight lines.
Seattle has just opened a tunnel for buses only, and Vancouver is now running a fully automated underground train service.
In the United Kingdom, more than 40 light-rail transit projects are under way, and in Toronto, where 30 years ago there were no suburban rail lines, the system has been rejuvenated to the point that it now carries nearly a quarter of all travellers.
In Victoria, we seem to be heading in the opposite direction.
In the first half of its term of office, the Kennett government cut country and suburban rail links, sacked public transport workers and scaled down the inner city public transport service.
At the same time, it has been pouring more and more money into major road projects. The government is now planning to spend:
- up to $1 billion to join the Tullamarine, Westgate and South Eastern Freeways;
- up to $250 million to build a new six-lane freeway from Doncaster Road to Springvale Road;
- up to $20 million on intersection works on the South Eastern Freeway;
- another $12 million on the Alexandra Parade project.
This reliance on road transport is not only going to create an inefficient infrastructure; it is destined to destroy Melbourne's inner city.
Once more, we appear to be ignoring the experience overseas. In Italy, more than 40 cities have moved to protect their cultural and historical heritage by prohibiting cars from entering the central precinct. In Germany, towns such as Freiburg are reconverting car parks and roads to restore public space.
Unfortunately, Mr Kennett seems to be either too ignorant to understand what has already happened overseas, or he lacks the courage to stand up to the power and influence of the motor vehicle and oil industries.
[Sid Spindler is the Australian Democrats senator for Victoria. This is an edited text of a speech at a rally against the plan to extend the Eastern Freeway into Carlton.]