Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032

[ozbob]

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Target 400 ! A campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032 28th December 2022 RAIL Back On Track is...

Posted by RAIL - Back On Track on Tuesday, 27 December 2022

[ozbob]

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Target 400 !
A campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032

28th December 2022




RAIL Back On Track is re-launching our Target 400 campaign for 2023.  We originally launched this campaign in 2019 and was put on hold in 2020.

Target 400 is aimed at getting the Governments and Transport Agencies to set a real patronage target and work towards it in a  meaningful manner.  With the 2032 Olympics it is essential that public transport is made much more fit for purpose - frequent, connected, proper route coverage, and accessible for all. More support for active transport.

We do have a number of  things in train that will support our target of 400 million passenger trips by 2032:

1. Smart ticketing - convenient to travel, and with new fare products to encourage frequent public transport use this will help.
https://translink.com.au/about-translink/projects-and-initiatives/smart-ticketing

2. Brisbane's New Bus Network  and the BERT ('Brisbane Metro').
More capacity, better connections, with better feeder bus frequency.
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/public-transport/brisbanes-new-bus-network
High frequency services on the busways.
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/public-transport/brisbane-metro

3. Cross River Rail (CRR)
Will unlock the bottleneck at the core of our transport network, and open up new destinations for all.
https://crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/

4.  SEQ Rail Connect
Better journeys with more frequent and faster services and greater comfort with more trains and more seats.  More longer distance express services, better suburban turn up and go services.
https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/About-us/Corporate-information/Publications/SEQ-Rail-Connect

5.  Queensland Train Manufacturing Program (QTMP)
Sixty five new 6-car passenger trains at a purpose-built manufacturing facility at Torbanlea, in the Maryborough region. These trains will support the expansion in rail services and frequency.
https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/queensland-train-manufacturing-program-qtmp

Transport authorities need to focus on service betterment as much as infrastructure.  There has not been enough focus on service improvement and this must change from here.

RAIL Back On Track Members have commenced a review of all SEQ Bus Regions (other than Brisbane) to help identify particular local issues on the bus networks.
(See https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=111.0 ). 

Once we have completed that we will then incorporate our suggestions into the wider SEQ Frequent Network plan ( https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/-/media/aboutus/corpinfo/Publications/regionaltransportplans/RTP-SEQ-web.pdf  page 53 ).

We have invited the public to comment on our Facebook page with suggestions on how we can drive the necessary patronage uptake.  Also if they know of particular issues with  local SEQ regional bus networks to also please comment.  Public feedback will inform our ongoing efforts for improvements.

Thanks.
Best wishes for 2023!

Robert

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

Reference:

SEQ Annual Patronage FY 2009/10 to 2021/22 - all modes
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=14832.0

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1607847313816563712

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

Urgent Action on Failed City & Transport Planning for 2023, Target 400 is achievable!

1st January 2023

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) highlights that there is more congestion today than ever with little to no change in the share of trips by motor vehicle over the last 30 years. Leaving active and public transport languishing at worst practice levels.

All the strategies, plans and "big ticket" projects have made no difference to the share of trips by active and public transport.

Cities like Vancouver, Paris, Copenhagen, Milan, Brussels, Vienna have upwards of 60% of trips by active and public transport.  What makes these cities similar is that they are multi-modal, compact, walkable, safe for cycling unlike SEQ.

Engineers Australia (1) recognises the need to change highlighting "Increasing capacity for urban road networks induces demand and is a major reason for increased traffic on the network ..." and "There is little evidence to demonstrate increasing road capacity to reduce traffic congestion improves economic performance in cities."

Even the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) calls for a reversal of the car-dependent planning (2), like we have in SEQ, to a multi-modal approach!

Leading city planners note that 'Successful multimodal cities aren't just about what your city starts doing — i.e., funding transit — it's what you stop doing — i.e., widening roads.'

RAIL Back On Track as part if its Target 400 Campaign (3) calls for the urgent implementation of:

A dedicated public transport authority (Public Transport Queensland PTQ) with:
- sole responsibility for leading, planning and running services and the removal of any service planning or design by local Councils,
- no limitations or restrictions to PTQ's ability to plan or run their services (e.g. services limited to Council boundaries),
- consistent branding across rail, light rail, BRT, buses and ferries irrespective of service provider.
The prioritisation of active/public transport in transport budgets (i.e. more budget for active/public transport than for adding road capacity), and
the development of a future-state SEQ Public Transport system (targeting greater than 60% of trips by active and public transport) consisting of:
- clear and legible labelling of major high-frequent routes (e.g. T1-x for Trains, L1-x for Light Rail, B1-x for BRT and M1-x for Metro/Subway),
- BRT (bus rapid transit)-based bus network operating in dedicate lanes with 'superstops' - think Gold Coast Light Rail but using buses instead of trams,
- highly integrated design with the ability to transfer quickly between services and minimal competition/duplication,
- 10-15 minute (or better) frequencies on all rail and BRT lines/stations from 6am to 9pm 7 days a week including the Airport Line,
- 20-30 minute (or better) frequencies on all rail and BRT lines/stations outside of 6am to 9pm 7 days a week,
a review of all Council initiated/driven public transport projects/planning particularly BCC's "It's Not a Metro".

Updates to City Plans to enforce:
-    walkable/transit oriented 15min Neighbourhoods in all urban and commercial areas with liveable street, #DensityDoneWell, #MissingMiddle and mixed-use development in local, district and regional centres,
-    increased densities around all rail/busway stations and key transport interchanges/centres, and
-    the removal of all car-parking minimums and setting of maximums in key commercial and employment; and
a public education program outlining the need to change the way we plan and build our city.

We need to turn around the failure transport paradigm in 2023!  Time is fleeting.
Are you up to the task Queensland?

Best wishes,
Robert

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


References:

1. Urban Transport Systems A Transport Australia Society Discussion Paper
https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-01/Urban-Transport-Systems-TAS-Discussion-Paper-December-2021-revised.pdf

2. The well-being lens applied to transport - OECD

Code Select Expand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkNmv6LHVrI
3. Target 400 ! A campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.0

[ozbob]

Facebook ...

Urgent Action on Failed City & Transport Planning for 2023, Target 400 is achievable! 1st January 2023 RAIL Back On...

Posted by RAIL - Back On Track on Saturday, 31 December 2022

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1609295258483052545

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

Re: Urgent Action on Failed City & Transport Planning for 2023, Target 400 is achievable!

4th January 2023

Brisbanetimes has reported that by 2032 Queensland's population is expected to grow by more than 16%, with most Queenslanders expected to live in Greater Brisbane.
Qld's population pendulum forecast to swing to an even greater Brisbane
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/qld-s-population-pendulum-forecast-to-swing-to-an-even-greater-brisbane-20230104-p5caai.html

Don't you think its time Government and agencies got their collective act together with respect to public and active transport?
The bias towards failing roads and more congestion and gridlock must be turned now.   
Preparation for the 2032 Olympics appears to have stagnated.

Yours in great concern.

Robert

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

Sent to all outlets:

Urgent Action on Failed City & Transport Planning for 2023, Target 400 is achievable!

1st January 2023

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) highlights that there is more congestion today than ever with little to no change in the share of trips by motor vehicle over the last 30 years. Leaving active and public transport languishing at worst practice levels.

All the strategies, plans and "big ticket" projects have made no difference to the share of trips by active and public transport.

Cities like Vancouver, Paris, Copenhagen, Milan, Brussels, Vienna have upwards of 60% of trips by active and public transport.  What makes these cities similar is that they are multi-modal, compact, walkable, safe for cycling unlike SEQ.

Engineers Australia (1) recognises the need to change highlighting "Increasing capacity for urban road networks induces demand and is a major reason for increased traffic on the network ..." and "There is little evidence to demonstrate increasing road capacity to reduce traffic congestion improves economic performance in cities."

Even the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) calls for a reversal of the car-dependent planning (2), like we have in SEQ, to a multi-modal approach!

Leading city planners note that 'Successful multimodal cities aren't just about what your city starts doing — i.e., funding transit — it's what you stop doing — i.e., widening roads.'

RAIL Back On Track as part if its Target 400 Campaign (3) calls for the urgent implementation of:

A dedicated public transport authority (Public Transport Queensland PTQ) with:
- sole responsibility for leading, planning and running services and the removal of any service planning or design by local Councils,
- no limitations or restrictions to PTQ's ability to plan or run their services (e.g. services limited to Council boundaries),
- consistent branding across rail, light rail, BRT, buses and ferries irrespective of service provider.
The prioritisation of active/public transport in transport budgets (i.e. more budget for active/public transport than for adding road capacity), and
the development of a future-state SEQ Public Transport system (targeting greater than 60% of trips by active and public transport) consisting of:
- clear and legible labelling of major high-frequent routes (e.g. T1-x for Trains, L1-x for Light Rail, B1-x for BRT and M1-x for Metro/Subway),
- BRT (bus rapid transit)-based bus network operating in dedicate lanes with 'superstops' - think Gold Coast Light Rail but using buses instead of trams,
- highly integrated design with the ability to transfer quickly between services and minimal competition/duplication,
- 10-15 minute (or better) frequencies on all rail and BRT lines/stations from 6am to 9pm 7 days a week including the Airport Line,
- 20-30 minute (or better) frequencies on all rail and BRT lines/stations outside of 6am to 9pm 7 days a week,
a review of all Council initiated/driven public transport projects/planning particularly BCC's "It's Not a Metro".

Updates to City Plans to enforce:
-    walkable/transit oriented 15min Neighbourhoods in all urban and commercial areas with liveable street, #DensityDoneWell, #MissingMiddle and mixed-use development in local, district and regional centres,
-    increased densities around all rail/busway stations and key transport interchanges/centres, and
-    the removal of all car-parking minimums and setting of maximums in key commercial and employment; and
a public education program outlining the need to change the way we plan and build our city.

We need to turn around the failure transport paradigm in 2023!  Time is fleeting.
Are you up to the task Queensland?

Best wishes,
Robert

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


References:

1. Urban Transport Systems A Transport Australia Society Discussion Paper
https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-01/Urban-Transport-Systems-TAS-Discussion-Paper-December-2021-revised.pdf

2. The well-being lens applied to transport - OECD

Code Select Expand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkNmv6LHVrI
3. Target 400 ! A campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.0

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1610642517313343490

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1610632942564569088

[Stillwater]

The prospect of a Brisbane mega-city is depressing, particularly if it means more cars and freeways, with a resulting cost in terms of lifestyle disadvantage. There are a whole lot of small but significant improvements that could be made to improve the efficiency of the current railway network (i.e. extend twin tracks to Shorncliffe, and on the Cleveland and Sunshine Coast lines). Beyond that, it is becoming obvious that a fast rail network is required -- to places such as  Beaudesert, Ipswich/Ripley, Toowoomba/Wellcamp, and even Maryborough/Hervey Bay, with a fast train service facility at Torbanlea. (NSW has its inter-regional rail train service facility at Dubbo.)

The coordinating role would be played by a SEQ Public Transport Authority, which is a need obvious to everyone except politicians. Also required is a coordinating body for population settlement in SEQ. Councils are tackling this in isolation within their own boundaries, but the Ipswich Development Growth Plan needs to talk to the Toowoomba Growth Plan etc.- and so on.

Maybe it is something for the SEQ Council of Mayors to tackle in the first instance. Or the premier after she returns from holidays. We face a state election in October 2024. A fast rail network is a refreshing policy concept for a Labor state government that looks at though it is running out of puff AND a state Opposition that needs to grab attention as the alternative government.

Punters don't care if it is a red-team or a blue-team idea, just so long as they have reliable mobility across the region. People are voting for Greens and Teals and regional fast rail would appeal to them too.

In late 2024, Queensland faces the prospect of a hung Parliament, with votes such as that of Noosa Independent Sandy Bolton (and possibly a few more) being crucial to the party holding power. Those MPs will place passenger rail on the agenda, so the major parties should be ready with imaginative, workable and funded solutions.

[#Metro]

6.16 million people x 3.3 trips per day average = 20 million trip pool per day

x 260 weekdays/year

= 5,285.28 million trip pool per year.

Huge opportunity for Perth-style or better fast rail in SEQ.

[Jonno]

Be careful! The travel behaviour created by a car-centric city (i.e. people driving long distances for daily activities) and those existing in a compact, walkable, multi-modal city are very very different.

Opportunity still exists but replacing today's car trips (forced trips by bad planning and road prioritisation) with active and public transport is not just swaping the same trips to another mode. It is about changing how our cities operates and the associated trips/mode choices from within each neighbourhood to the region as a whole.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets

Target 400 - A Very Different Looking SEQ

9th January 2023

Achieving RAIL Back On Track's Target 400 (1) requires not only the delivery of fit for purpose public transport - frequent, connected, proper route coverage, and accessible for all - and more support for active transport, it also requires us to re-think and plan a very different looking city.

Just looking at the trips being made around SEQ and trying to work out why or how to shift these to active and public transport misses one of the key challenges in city and transport planning. The trips made each and every day only exist because this is what the city planning and infrastructure enforced. Yes enforced. They are not an absolute that must be catered for but the result of planning and investment decisions. Our governments enforced the congestion across SEQ, not failed to cater for it.   

To achieve Target 400 and the social, economic and environmental benefits particularly improved health, better cost of living and housing affordability/availability requires a very different region to the one our governments have created. We need to follow in the footsteps of cities that already have achieved very high levels of active and public transport. There is no underlying "difference or reason" for this other than their leaders just chose to take a different path decades ago. A choice Queensland needs to reverse today.

Better practice is neighbourhoods and commercial/employment centres that are walkable, low-traffic, transit-oriented with mixed-use centres and a wide diversity of housing where access to most, if not all, of the community needs are within a short walk or bike ride from their home.

Very very different from SEQ, but one residents will look at and Say "Bring it On" as road congestion continues to worsen, and their life quality continues to deteriorate.

Reference:

1. Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=96.0



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

[ozbob]

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*** Target 400 - A Very Different Looking SEQ *** 9th January 2023 Achieving RAIL Back On Track's Target 400 (1)...

Posted by RAIL - Back On Track on Sunday, 8 January 2023

[ozbob]

Can we do it?

With CRR and BERT (' Brisbane Metro ') coming soon with service frequency increases on rail and bus of course we can.  It takes committment by Government and Transport authorities. It is not all about infrastructure, we can use what we have got a lot better.