11 Nov 2010: SEQ: Increasing costs are driving people to public transport

[ozbob]

Media release 11 November 2010

SEQ: Increasing costs are driving people to public transport

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 wishes to highlight the importance of public and active transport as citizens' budgets continue to be squeezed.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Long before peak oil will apparently hit, RAIL Back on Track believes 'peak affordability' - a financially gouging combination of rising costs for  petrol, housing, utility, and interest-rates will squeeze people's budgets and make driving ever longer distances ever more and more unaffordable. There are already examples of this in the United States of America where people in car-dependent suburbs suddenly find themselves locked into high cost commuting (1)."

"The entire Queensland economy is essentially built around transporting people to their jobs assuming that people will forever be commuting in cars, running on cheap imported oil, and in the future possibly being tolled for it too. It is becoming apparent that this state of affairs will be unsustainable in the face of increasing costs and bill pressures for all."

"Researchers from Griffith University have devised a VAMPIRE index (vulnerability assessment for mortgage, petrol and inflation risks and expenses) which shows that suburbs north of Brisbane are particularly vulnerable. (2) Projects such as the North-Western Line via Trouts Road, the Moreton Bay Rail Link (Petrie to Kippa Ring) project and 15 minute 'no-compromise' all day rail frequency will therefore go a long way to reducing the high costs of car ownership."

"There are openings for value capture and private sector involvement in rail projects such as these. Every rail station to be built should be assessed for its 'TOD-ability' (Transit Oriented Development ability) and be carefully designed so that surface car-parks eating up prime TOD land that is within the 800 metre 'walking catchment' around such stations is minimised. Market demand should be actively tested as the co-construction and co-development of rail stations with surrounding and supportive development will mean good patronage from day one."

"Now is the time to direct the bulk of transport funding into mass transit.  The road centric paradigm in south-east Queensland has failed and we need to position our community for a sustainable future, time is running out fast (4)."

References:

1. Stretched to the Limits http://video.pbs.org/video/1622130283
Blueprint America reports on the high cost of transportation in car-dependent suburbs

2. Suburban shocks: Assessing locational vulnerability to rising household fuel and mortgage interest costs
http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/10072/11502/1/Dodson2006ShockingTheSuburbs_ATRF.pdf

3. Peak Oil forum
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=45.0

4. SEQ: Zero time left to can congestion http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=4794.msg38506#msg38506

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[#Metro]

Mortgage stress to intensify if rates jump

Mortgage stress to intensify if rates jump
November 12, 2010 - 4:40PM

Pressure on banks won't go away

Where to from here now that all the big four banks have raised their variable lending rates? Danny John analyses the fall-out.

A quarter of Australian home borrowers will be under severe financial stress or forced to sell their homes if interest rates rise by another 100 basis points next year, research shows.

An online survey of 2,268 adults conducted last month showed 75 per cent of home owners with a mortgage would suffer some form of financial stress if rates kept rising.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/mortgage-stress-to-intensify-if-rates-jump-20101112-17qwd.html