Two thirds of Sydneysiders want good public transport before tax cuts

[ozbob]

This is universal, all states!

From Australian Conservation Foundation  http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=1470
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Two thirds of Sydneysiders want good public transport before tax cuts

Date: 18-Oct-2007

People would prefer the Federal Government spend the budget surplus on public transport than tax cuts.

That?s the message from nearly 70 per cent of the people surveyed by the Australian Research Group for a poll released by ACF.

Charles Berger, ACF?s Strategies Director, said ?the overwhelming public support for ambitious federal investment in urban public transport should be a wake-up call to all parties. If the parties are serious about protecting the environment and buffering families living in the city fringes from rising petrol costs, they will ensure that public transport is readily available and accessible.?

?Families in suburbs and growth areas are already vulnerable to fluctuating fuel prices. A federal government that neglects to invest in public transport would be making things worse for these families, as well as failing to address climate change.

?Since 1990, cars have been one of the fastest growing sources of emissions. Unless we act, greenhouse pollution from cars will increase by 70 per cent by 2020.?

Mr Berger said urban transport was not just a state responsibility. ?The federal government has invested around $60 billion dollars in roads over three decades, and much of this for urban roads, so they?re already involved in urban transport policy.?

Federal transport funding from 1974 to 2004 was 14 times more weighted to roads than rail capital works and urban public transport.

In 2005 the Sustainable Cities report of the bi-partisan House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage recommended the Federal Government significantly boost its funding commitment for public transport, particularly light and heavy rail.