OK I have scanned through this discussion and you all seem to be coming
from a particular starting point which is the here and now which in my
view is PEAK PRIVATE VEHICLE.
I had a brief glimmer of hope when a few people mentioned the laws of
physics, but then the assumptions dashed them. The laws of physics say
we cannot all get into a personal private car and expect to get to our
destination and park it. So, unless the driverless cars become a micro
one person vehicle, I do not see any significant benefit.
Here in the Inner west of Sydney (those in Inner Melbourne have already
had their victory) we are fighting WestCONnex.
The reality is that people are not even bothering to get drivers
licenses or purchase vehicles - though the argument is they need one if
they are to get to their place of employment, recreation etc. In Sydney
we have had several failed toll road projects including the lane cove
tunnel and the cross city tunnel there is no evidence that Westconnex
will be any different. Congestion on Victoria Road is evidence of people
avoiding tolls.
I have just driven up to Brisbane and back which was a truly horrible
experience (made worse by the realisation we could probably have done
most of the trip via Narrabri on the train). Trees are being felled,
bushland and farmland destroyed to construct massive roads. Towns
through which the highway once passed are now a significant detour.
Brisbane was this horrid experience of freeways on the foreshore of the
city. This is also what has happened to construct the Motorway to the
North West of Sydney through the Sydney Blue Gums.
Someone mention the M5 - from time to time I drive against the traffic
on virtually my own private motorway - 3 unused lanes in the opposite
direction. I observe the people sitting parked on the M5 - there is
rarely more than one person in each car. Roads are taking up precious
real estate and they are never going to get anyone anywhere faster!
I haven't even got onto the Social (time not spent at work, with family,
or friends) health cost of accidents (sitting in cars for prolonged
times, car accident victims who do not die) , the environmental costs of
the fuel, air and noise pollution.
Shopping malls are designed for people to drive to them fill up their
trolleys and drive home. They are also designed for very large trucks to
make large scale deliveries - there are other models that are better for
humanity and the environment!
We are asking all governments to prioritise public transport over the
private vehicle (the poles and wires is about selling off the
electricity assets to fund the building of the road!):
No WestConnex: Public transport not motorways
Stop 33km of motorway destruction planned for Sydney | Don’t swap
poles and wires for tolls and tyres..The total cost is now predicted to
be $16.8 billion. When it was announced in October 2012, the original
cost of WestConnex was $10 billion...
http://wp.westconnex.info/
The National Audit Office has just announced an Audit into federal
funding of Westconnex (Due to table: January, 2017):
The objective of this audit is to assess whether appropriate steps
were taken to protect the Commonwealth's interests and obtain value
for money in respect to the $3.5 billion in Commonwealth funding
committed to the NSW Government for the WestConnex project.
https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/approval-and-administration-commonwealth-funding-westconnex-project
Further Reading:
05/01: Trends in travel in the Greater Sydney Region (2002/3 - 2012/3)
http://ramin.com.au/blog/category/sydney-transport/blog/1
01/04: Word Clouds of 10% of Westconnex Index to Non privileged Papers
http://ramin.com.au/blog/?itemid=327
10/04: Australia could have a high speed train by 2025!
http://ramin.com.au/blog/?itemid=340
Marghanita
--
Marghanita da Cruz
Telephone: 0414-869202
Email: marghan...@ramin.com.au
Website: http://ramin.com.au
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