2018-03-27
Responding to Infrastructure Australia’s latest priority list release, the Greens say that transport infrastructure decisions and funding must prioritise public transport if we are to unclog our cities and reduce pollution in the long term.
“Infrastructure Australia has included a number of public transport priorities on their priority list, and governments must get those congestion-busting projects moving before turning our cities into a tangled mess of freeways,” said Senator Janet Rice, federal Greens transport spokesperson.
“Last century’s patterns of car dependence are not the solution for our growing cities into the future.”
“We’re facing significant population increases in our biggest urban centres, so we must stop inducing more cars onto our roads and instead give people a real choice of modern, high capacity metro public transport systems.”
“In Melbourne, our existing rail and tram services are packed full because people want to use public transport. But we’re not meeting demand, and need to provide more services.”
“The zombie East West Link equivalent is listed on IA’s potential initiatives, alongside a slew of other projects. We know from the last incarnation that the business case for East West Link showed it was an expensive, loss-making disasterwith no transparent traffic modelling to justify its existence.”
Victorian Greens spokesperson for transport, Sam Hibbins MP, said "The Infrastructure Australia list sticks to the status quo of more tollways and increased congestion. What's missing is the transformative public transport infrastructure to ensure Melbourne stays liveable in the face of rapid population growth.”
"The Greens will fight the East West link and new toll roads every step of the way and push for world class public transport instead."