12 Mar 2011: SEQ: Full disclosure required on developments ...

[ozbob]

Media release 12 March 2011

SEQ: Full disclosure required on developments in the middle of nowhere

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has called for public transport to be included in the sustainability declarations currently in use.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"RAIL Back on Track is aware of approval of new homes to be constructed at Flagstone and Greenbank (1). To be frank, we don't see how sustainable public transport can be provided in this area in a satisfactory time-frame, and we think it was time that access to public transport was mandatorily included in sustainability declarations."

It needn't be difficult; people would simply circle:

* The main mode (bus/train/ferry) closest by

* A frequency (none, peak only, basic (hourly/half-hourly) or frequent (15 minutes or better))

* The approximate walking distance (400m or less, 800m or less, 800m +) or alternative access mode if further away (bicycle or car to park and ride, ___ km away).

"It is important that people can make informed decisions and it should made clear from day one that if they choose to live in areas that have no public transport, that they can expect to be waiting quite a while for it and will have to pay to fill up the petrol tank for their commute. Nobody should be able to claim that they weren't told or didn't know, like so often happens. While there is a new train line planned for the Flagstone area, like many plans, it is quite possible that won't arrive until at the earliest 2031. The Connecting SEQ 2031 plan quite clearly states that it is not intended to be fully funded."

"And it must be remembered that the Merivale Rail bridge is effectively at capacity now and Cross River Rail is delayed so even if the train line were built in the next 5 years to service Flagstone, there is little or no prospect of being able to run a train service out that way during peak hour anyway. There simply are no slots for such a train service on the Merivale Rail Bridge."

"An intrinsic geometric property of branching railway lines is that they split (e.g. reduce) the frequency of service - this is unavoidable unless transfers are used - so when a train line arrives there is a very high chance that it will be run at an unattractive 30 minute frequency at best (2)."

"The CSIRO in 2002 released the National Kilowatt Count of Household Energy Use, and it shows that the greatest greenhouse emissions come not from old-style light bulbs, not from appliances or cooking, not from hot water, but from transport (49.6% of greenhouse emissions) (3). The failure to include Public Transport into sustainability declarations is something we would like to see fixed."

"RAIL Back on Track believes that people should be free to choose where they would like to live, but also believes that it should be absolutely clear that if an area does not have public transport, that fact should be made upfront, as clear as day before purchase. It should also be crystal clear that TransLink will not even consider a basic bus service unless the density reaches 7 dwellings per hectare."

"We all know how costly it is (approximately within a range of $100 million to $200 million per kilometre) to extend new rail and busway lines to places like this, and it takes many years if not decades to do so, and uses up money that could be otherwise spent on improving existing rail infrastructure and frequencies."

"Full disclosure is what is required and is what must be done."

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

References:

1. Flagstone Growth linked to train service
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3553

2. Basics: branching (or how transit is like a river)

http://www.humantransit.org/2011/02/basics-branching-or-how-transit-is-like-a-river.html
http://www.humantransit.org/2011/02/what-rivers-teach-about-transit.html

"But branching always divides frequency.  The Melbourne map gives a superficial impression that Lilydale, Boronia and Ringwood all have the
same kind of transit service.  They certainly all have train stations, but the branching means that
Ringwood has to have more frequent service than either branch, and that may be the difference between
a service that can be used spontaneously and one that requires you to build your life around a timetable."

3. Myth: Cars aren't the biggest greenhouse polluters, so there's no point focussing on them
http://www.ptua.org.au/myths/greenhouse.shtml

"What happens if we look specifically at household emissions from electricity and gas use,
alongside emissions from household transport activities? The CSIRO did this in 2002,
and their results took many by surprise. Here transport emerges as by far the greatest energy
user and the biggest factor in household greenhouse emissions."

[ozbob]

Discussion --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3553

Concerned citizens at Greenbank --> http://www.savegreenbank.com.au/