Sunshine Coast: Residents want more public transport

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Residents want more public transport

PUBLIC transport remains a hot topic for Sunshine Coast residents, with 83% of those surveyed saying the Coast needs more of it.

Rail Back on Track Sunshine Coast spokesman Jeff Addison said inconsistencies in planning exacerbated the issue.

The Palmwoods resident said his suburb, which had double the population of nearby Woombye, had just two bus services a day whereas Woombye had 41.

The Bruce Hwy was the road that most frustrated Coast residents, with 86% believing the State Government-managed highway upgrade was taking too long.

He said the focus on transport should be on rail line duplication, because highway upgrades would "simply move congestion further up the highway".

But Mr Addison was not surprised that just 32% of respondents said delays on rail duplication were having a major impact on them or their family.

"If we had better levels of service people would use and it and make use of it," he said. "People don't want to use the rail line - it's expensive and 42% of our daily trains are - literally - busses."

Transport issues could also be overcome by strengthening other infrastructure such as high speed internet, according to University of the Sunshine Coast lecturer in property and economic development Steve Boyd.

"We need to make sure we've got this infrastructure in place including internet to make sure people can also work without travel," Dr Boyd said.

"We talk about the major infrastructure projects like road and rail, but you bring up the issue with international students and they say the internet is a major form of infrastructure that can complement and reduce the impact on roads and rail."

He said air and rail transport infrastructure would become increasingly important.

"It's going to make a significant impact on whether people want to live here or on the Gold Coast, or in Brisbane, if they have to face that kind of (traffic congestion) issue," he said.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/7NewsSC/status/887590541076045824

[Arnz]

Just over 1 year later from the April 2016 article in regards to bus services into Palmwoods.  It's interesting to see the changes since then, is a  "doubling" in services to Palmwoods, from "2 services per weekday" under the old Route 639 route to "4 services" per weekday under Route 638.

https://translink.com.au/sites/default/files/assets/timetables/170123-637,638.pdf

[Gazza]

Isnt the high number of buses through Woombye because it is on the way?

Don't try and make out it is favouritism.

[City Designer]

Agreed with Gazza. It's a non-argument.

[Stillwater]

How the Sunshine Coast will move 550,000 future residents:

https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/how-the-coast-will-move-its-550000-future-resident/3221979