(Adopted August 2014; Updated June 2018; Updated March 2019; Updated May 2021)
Principles
The Queensland Greens believe that:
1. Transport policy should focus on moving people and goods rather than vehicles.
2. Provision of public transport should focus on abolishing fares, increasing access and increasing coverage as a means of ensuring access to the economic and social benefits that it provides.
3. Transport policy can be used to support the achievement of positive environmental, social, economic and public health outcomes.
4. Dependence on private car use can be reduced by integrating land use and transport planning when developing new infrastructure and residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas.
5. Public transport should preferably be government owned and, when privately owned, should be subject to the oversight and constructive input of government transit authorities.
6. Residential streets and urban areas are places for people and urban liveability should be a major consideration in any transport plan.
Aims
The Queensland Greens will:
Transport Efficiency
1. Organise transport planning and operational oversight under the jurisdiction of one government department considered fundamental to a quality integrated transport system.
2. Prioritise projects where the highest levels of transport congestion are experienced.
3. Prioritise long term investment toward a safer and efficient rail freight network.
4. Prioritise funding to public transport modes.
5. Prioritise funding to improve the resilience of major highways and railway lines to floods.
6. Review public transport mode performance indices to reflect transport efficiency and encapsulate the value of improved public amenity and active transport components.
7. Ensure there is a requirement that rail corridors are reserved in new development areas and that public transport infrastructure is built in these corridors as development occurs.
8. Fund and market an incentive program to increase telecommuting.
9. Bring all rail corridors with passenger services into public ownership and control.
10. Transition all publicly owned rail infrastructure and rolling stock to be carbon neutral.
11. Improve capabilities of our rail services to ensure safer highways and to reduce industrial carbon emissions.
Active Transport
12. Provide co-fund active transport infrastructure initiatives with local government.
13. Fund and market an incentive program to increase active transport usage.
14. Establish a Regional Queensland Cycling Fund to oversee;
14.1. The construction of cycling infrastructure in regional towns, and
14.2. New and upgraded road projects, both conform to the Department of Main Road’s Cycling on State Controlled Roads policy.
12. Prioritise bike lane and bikeway network projects to connect communities to local train stations, bus interchanges and shopping centres and provide adequate and safe facilities for bicycle, scooter and motorcycle storage at these locations.
Specific Projects – Queensland Wide
13. Investigate and implement safety improvements for rail crossings.
14. Require new Queensland Government fleet vehicles to be as fuel efficient as possible in the current vehicles market.
15. Fund a public education program on the benefits of using electric and low impact renewable fuels for all modes of transport.
16. Structure vehicle registration payments to encourage fuel efficiency and the uptake of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles and motorcycles and motor scooters.
17. Set up a “pay as you drive” vehicle registration system where registration is paid at the petrol pump.
18. Fund a program where new driver licenses are conditional on partially subsidised defensive driving training including a higher driver training period log rate for such training.
19. Plan transport links into airports to include a variety of options including public transport.
20. Plan for new airports and existing airport expansion to minimise impact on residential areas and sensitive ecosystems.
21. In line with other states, extend the public transport concession to holders of a Commonwealth Government Low Income Health Care Card.
22. Abolish the current Tertiary Transport Concession Card and replacing it with a system based on student cards and up to date access of enrolment status from institutions to obtain or recharge electronic travel swipe cards.
Specific Projects - Southeast Queensland
23. Build a light rail network in Brisbane to complement the busway and heavy passenger rail networks.
24. Work with the federal government, commence or extend the construction of railway lines to Coolangatta, Ripley Valley, Caloundra and Maroochydore as outlined in the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan.
25. Improve access to recharge options for the Go Card network.
26. Introduce a more equitable fare structure for SEQ that takes into account trip lengths, concessions and frequency of travel. Target transport concession groups include: school and tertiary students, jobseekers, apprentices, trainees, people with disabilities, certain ex-members of the Defence Forces, pensioners, seniors and war widows and widowers.
27. Review bus services in SEQ to link major suburban centres, further synchronise rail and bus service timetables and introduce feeder bus routes for train lines rather than bus services which run parallel to the train line.
28. Implement a peak period Brisbane CBD congestion charging scheme.
29. Conduct a feasibility study to develop car share facilities in the CBD.
30. Conduct a feasibility study to develop a Brisbane river water taxi service.
31. Conduct a feasibility study on making flexible or removing tolls for TransApex tunnels to reduce peak period CBD congestion.
32. Conduct a feasibility study to integrate AirTrain into TransLink and/or other measures to reduce its cost and extend its operating hours.