ALP 2014 Policy Platform

[ozbob]

Media release 21st September 2014

Queensland:  ALP support concession public transport fares for unemployed

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has often called for concession fares to be made available to the unemployed in Queensland. Queensland ALP now have extending concession fares to the unemployed as part of their policy platform.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Queensland is the only state or territory in Australia that does not extend concession fares on public transport to the unemployed (1)."

"For south-east Queensland this is a vicious double whammy for these disadvantaged citizens.  Fares in south-east Queensland are amongst the worlds most expensive, particularly paper tickets. How are the unemployed expected to be able to attend job interviews, get out and look for jobs if they are unable to access public transport?"

"Fare box wasted on go card rorts by the cashed up 'suits' could easily be redirected to providing concessions for the unemployed.  It just takes a bit of wisdom and political courage to fix the failed fare structure in SEQ (2)."

"We welcome the committment by Queensland Labor ' ... will maintain public transport concessions and extend them to recipients of the Newstart allowance ' (3)."

"Thank you!"

References:

1. Health care cards and concession fares around the nation http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9124.msg143040#msg143040

2. Do you support daily/weekly capping on go card (or equivalent) ?
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10957.0

3. http://www.queenslandlabor.org/wp-content/uploads/2014QldPolicyPlatform_web.pdf 7.60

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[HappyTrainGuy]

checkmate.....both labor and liberal class the brisbane busways as world class......be concerned...very concerned...more northern busway style mock-ups coming to a draftboard near you...

The ALP already has a draft for a busway along the railway line between Carseldine and Bracken Ridge with stops only at Carseldine station and where the old level crossing was..... I've said this repeatedly but there's no need for that. Have a Bracken Ridge Feeder service running along Norris Road through the new housing estate at Fitzgibbon and then feed directly into Carseldine railway station. The busway just bypasses all those new houses for a time saving or a minute or two. Once Norris Road is extended (pretty much less than 100m to go) the whole Bracken Ridge/Carseldine/Taigum/Bald Hills area should have a revised bus network. So much potential yet sweet FA because everyone fears change.

[techblitz]

Well on facebook theres been recent reports of "bus full" 330's usually around 7-8amish..before they hit chermside.....so if some of those can be fed into rail....it helps a lot...

[James]

World class my ass! Hahahahahaha! The Northern Busway was never needed in the first place. A proper network reform and the widening of Gympie Road through Lutyche/Kedron to incorporate a peak hour only bus lane from the City to Chermside was all that was needed. Instead we got a dedicated busway tunnel that the all stops 370 using surface streets is faster at using, buses that travel in convoys along and busway stops that buses run past without stopping for no valid reason.

I think the busway is needed, but its design should be such that the speed limits on the busway are higher than those on the surface roads - not to mention it shouldn't be built with the middle missing! I think the Northern Busway, just like the SEB, will perform an important role as a high-frequency rapid transit corridor into the future. The main thing is delivering the project cheaply, and preferably all in one go from Windsor to Chermside (that is, both constructing the missing bit and the rest of it - may I suggest further up along Gympie Rd that lanes could be taken from Gympie Road for the busway in parts).

[HappyTrainGuy]

Well on facebook theres been recent reports of "bus full" 330's usually around 7-8amish..before they hit chermside.....so if some of those can be fed into rail....it helps a lot...

That doesn't surprise me. The entire capacity of the 330/P331 during peak hour can be put onto 2x 6 car trains. Given that the trains still have seats available before Northgate and there are trains every 7 minutes I'd love to see the 330 buz canabilised so Bracken Ridge and surrounds can be saturated with better coverage instead of the shabby network now. But this is the fundamental problem as you just can't do it to that area. This is where the entire Brisbane northside bus network needs to be addressed.

World class my ass! Hahahahahaha! The Northern Busway was never needed in the first place. A proper network reform and the widening of Gympie Road through Lutyche/Kedron to incorporate a peak hour only bus lane from the City to Chermside was all that was needed. Instead we got a dedicated busway tunnel that the all stops 370 using surface streets is faster at using, buses that travel in convoys along and busway stops that buses run past without stopping for no valid reason.

I think the busway is needed, but its design should be such that the speed limits on the busway are higher than those on the surface roads - not to mention it shouldn't be built with the middle missing! I think the Northern Busway, just like the SEB, will perform an important role as a high-frequency rapid transit corridor into the future. The main thing is delivering the project cheaply, and preferably all in one go from Windsor to Chermside (that is, both constructing the missing bit and the rest of it - may I suggest further up along Gympie Rd that lanes could be taken from Gympie Road for the busway in parts).

I don't think the northern busway will ever be as good as the SEQ busway. The major part being we have multiple nearby railway lines and future planned corridors (NWTC). Take out the kinks at Zillmere-Carseldine, Bald Hills, the 80kph kink at Strathpine and barring the crossovers the minimum speed is pretty much 100kph Northgate-Lawnton. To me the Caboolture railway line at the moment doesn't warrant a higher frequency and that is down to the bus networks (poor running hours, poor span of frequency - remember the majority of routes are already hourly and poor interchanges). There's a reason why the park and rides at Caboolture, Morayfield, Burpengary, Narangba, Petrie (post MBRL there will be another multiple level car park), Lawnton, Bray Park, Strathpine, Bald Hills, Carseldine, Zillmere and Geebung (the expanded parking lot is currently being built) have all been expanded. The Southern Busway has basically every Southside and Eastern route fed onto it. The northside has a very very limited catchment for it. And most of it is currently put down to duplication. Since it opened bus numbers that use it have actually been reduced with the 77 and 369 having frequency cuts.

[#Metro]

The ALP already has a draft for a busway along the railway line between Carseldine and Bracken Ridge with stops only at Carseldine station and where the old level crossing was..... I've said this repeatedly but there's no need for that. Have a Bracken Ridge Feeder service running along Norris Road through the new housing estate at Fitzgibbon and then feed directly into Carseldine railway station. The busway just bypasses all those new houses for a time saving or a minute or two. Once Norris Road is extended (pretty much less than 100m to go) the whole Bracken Ridge/Carseldine/Taigum/Bald Hills area should have a revised bus network. So much potential yet sweet FA because everyone fears change.

Fix up the network and the busway beyond Aspley might not even be required. The reason you have these expensive busway proposals for this area is because BT and their anti-transfer hi-waste philosophy. They appear to have a problem sending the bus to the train station, by driving the buses across the suburbs. The northside roads form a GRID - so NO excuse. Amplify the Cab train line to 15 minute all day frequency (will happen when Kippa Ring opens) and then see if the busway is needed at all.

These heavy infrastructure 'solutions' are HUGELY expensive. $465 million for 1km at Buranda - that is more than the ENTIRE budget of BT for the whole year, it would pay to double service on every bus route in the entire city and you'd still have savings left over.

*Edit: Clarified my comment was in relation to extensions in the northern part of Brisbane.

[techblitz]

ya LD...but 1km of busway lasts how many years and requires how much maintenance?
the seq busway was built way back in 2001.....i would say good value for money considering very little maintenance has had to be done on it since opening..
some sections are sounding  a little worse for wear but im sure its still pretty stable overall....many more years of service to look forward to

[HappyTrainGuy]

Fix up the network and the busway beyond Aspley might not even be required.

It's not even needed now 

[#Metro]

Disagree. Services are what move people. There are already 85 train stations within the BCC area, much of the problems come from lack of access (Yeronga, Centenary, Albany Creek, Bulimba) not lack of busway.

Services are what do the work. Infrastructure only facilitates.

If that money were spent on service - only a fraction of it - much of the problems would be solved.

[HappyTrainGuy]

I was referring to the busway being built and not lack of services. Busways are not always the answer to moving people. The whole Brisbane northside needs a network revamp.

[pandmaster]

World class my ass! Hahahahahaha! The Northern Busway was never needed in the first place. A proper network reform and the widening of Gympie Road through Lutyche/Kedron to incorporate a peak hour only bus lane from the City to Chermside was all that was needed. Instead we got a dedicated busway tunnel that the all stops 370 using surface streets is faster at using, buses that travel in convoys along and busway stops that buses run past without stopping for no valid reason.

I think the busway is needed, but its design should be such that the speed limits on the busway are higher than those on the surface roads - not to mention it shouldn't be built with the middle missing! I think the Northern Busway, just like the SEB, will perform an important role as a high-frequency rapid transit corridor into the future. The main thing is delivering the project cheaply, and preferably all in one go from Windsor to Chermside (that is, both constructing the missing bit and the rest of it - may I suggest further up along Gympie Rd that lanes could be taken from Gympie Road for the busway in parts).

Gympie Road around Kedron and Chermside is already an absolute shambles in peak hour. While I would have no issues with a ballsy government giving a lane (or some sections of lane) in each direction to the busway, with the decrease in road capacity as an added incentive for people to use it, IMHO this would not be politically feasible and unless a large number of people changed from cars to the bus as it would just make the congestion worse see a competent government lose votes. The gap definitely needs to be filled and the busway extended to Chermside but unfortunately the TBMs and associated machinery from the AirportLink/Northern Busway construction have moved on. That would have been the opportune time to do it, just like the Legacy Way TBMs not being used for Bat/CRR. I am not sure what the best and most politically feasible option is. Unless large resumptions of commercial land along Gympie Road were made I imagine you would have to tunnel or build a viaduct.

As for the Lutwyche Road section: anything would be difficult and expensive to conform with the existing infrastructure, curvature of the road, topography, roadside structures and obstacles. I would be in favour of a rubber-tyred metro for the whole length with the new sections elevated, but that may not be the most cost effective option and would be a bit out of the box (and yet not so stupid no one else has done it *COUGH* BaT)  for us here in Brisbane.  Not to mention the impacts on bus routes which would actually require connections! It would have to be in the long term anyway as at least some of the rest of the busway would have to be converted, unless the section in the city could be shared. Needless to say it is a mess! I dream of one day riding those lovely bouncy trains in Brisbane.

[Stillwater]

Labor promises:

develop and publish a plan for the progressive priority upgrade of the North Coast Rail Line to improve safety, efficiency and reliability.

invest in removing conflicts between passenger and rail freight movements where they share the same corridor.

The sentiment is to be applauded, but the electorate will be wary about just 'publishing a plan'.  The plan must be backed by a commitment of funds (perhaps in conjunction with the ARTC and the private sector).  The plan should not be just a restatement of the 20 or so other reports showing the deficiencies of the NCL.  We need another plan like we need a hole in the head.

SC people have heard it all before from Labor -- Connecting SEQ 2031, fast tilt trains to the SC 'in about an hour' etc.  Maroochydore heavy rail was in Connecting SEQ.  Labor must do better than this -- and commit to where the problem is the worst, between Landsborough and Nambour.  Come the election, it is likely that the LNP won't be addressing this section, even though it hopes to win the seat of Nicklin off the Independent, Peter Wellington.  Nambour is the centre of Nicklin.

In fact, it would be an interesting scenario of Labor promised to duplicate to Nambour.  Peter Wellington would welcome it.  Those who want duplication may be enticed to vote Labor.  Conservative voters who want duplication, but can't bring themselves to vote for the LNP, would vote for Peter Wellington.  LNP would have to hatch a plan to counter this likely scenario, particularly if it is scrambling for seats.

[#Metro]

Any promise to publish a plan should be strongly rejected. This is death by gloss(y brochures).
They've already used this trick too many times.

Printing papers is not progress.

[SurfRail]

Unless they are planning to deforest the CAMCOS corridor?