Transport

Historically Western Australian planning and funding of transport infrastructure has been biased towards road transport, and despite recent significant investments in public transport the funding mechanisms for transport as a whole remain unequally skewed in this direction. 

Accountability for expenditure on all modes of transport within the State is poor, and there would appear to be a mindset within public sector funding processes which sets higher hurdles for expenditure on transport infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport than for infrastructure which supports private car travel and road freight.

The Greens (WA) believe that this mindset must change.  Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector must be reduced and we must anticipate the impacts of the global decline of cheap oil production, particularly for outer suburban households.¹ This will require improved public transport, better land use planning and smart regulations and incentives to encourage cleaner vehicles. 

Goals

The Greens (WA) want: 

• public transport, cycling and walking in urban areas to become the dominant modes of transport, by both provision of infrastructure and by developing urban areas where activities are in close proximity to home
• cleaner vehicles with lower greenhouse gas emissions
• efficiency of rural and agricultural transport networks to secure transport in the food supply chain
• urban and regional planning that reduces the need for long distance freight transport and long distance commuting in favour of local economic development
• the integration of road, rail and sea freight and a shift in the freight balance from road to rail and shipping. 

Initiatives 

The Greens (WA) will initiate and support legislation and actions that:

Public transport

• fund the expansion and improvement of the public transport system, including  an urban light rail system for Perth and major regional centres
• provide high speed public transport passenger links to and from regions, restoring passenger rail services to major regional centres, including Albany and Geraldton
• ensure the Federal Government remit for Infrastructure Australia includes urban passenger transport projects and uses a multi-criteria evaluation for any transport project that is transparent and takes into account the full benefits of public transport
• petition the Federal Government to spend at least 10 per cent (about 1.5 billion dollars per year) of the Fuel Excise Tax on public transport, cycleways and walkways in Western Australia

Land use planning

• introduce a transport needs and impact assessment for all new urban land release, subdivision applications, structure plans, local planning strategies and major developments which ensures that people will be afforded a choice of transport mode
• seek developer contributions for the delivery of public transport, walking and cycle access to new developments
• reject development applications which do not meet high accessibility standards for all modes of transport
• require community and stakeholder participation in land use and transport planning
• ensure that new road and road-widening proposals be transparently assessed against other options for addressing travel needs

Cleaner vehicles

• support the establishment of national mandatory fuel efficiency standards across all classes of vehicles
• support the establishment of a national low emission fuel standard to increase the use of 'clean fuels' such as sustainable biofuels, renewable electricity, hydrogen and other systems that might become available
• integrate renewable energy and plug-in electric vehicles
• convert diesel powered trucks and buses to use liquid natural gas (LNG), investigate the LNG option for rail locomotives and investigate options for improving the fuel-efficiency of the current trucking fleet
• reform stamp-duty and vehicle licence fees to encourage  fuel efficiency for all vehicles
• replace existing charges for commercial and freight vehicles with mass and distance charges

Cycling

• complete the Perth Bicycle Network, and extend such networks in regional communities
• provide rail cars for bicycles in urban trains at all times
• provide for bicycles on buses at all times
• introduce a bicycle rental system similar to that available in Paris and other European cities
• increase the power limit for electrically assisted bicycles to 500 watts, with a 30km/h speed limit

TravelSmart

• expand the scope of TravelSmart and related programs to stimulate initiatives for greater reductions in short trip car travel and localisation of commercial and employment opportunities
• develop and implement TravelSmart initiatives for outer suburbs that are appropriate to their more difficult problems arising from low density, car-dependent urban sprawl
• develop appropriate TravelSmart initiatives for rural and regional towns

Freight Transport

• re-organise rural grain bins and trade agreements with a view to reversing the trend for increasing dependence on road transport
• investigate the feasibility and payback time of equipping ships with sails or airborne kite-sails to reduce fuel consumption
• re-introduce a state shipping service to all deep water coastal ports as a road transport reduction measure.

Footnotes

1. There is strong research evidence that households living in outer suburbia (broadly) are poorly supplied with a quality public transport service capable of providing them with an alternative to car travel.  At the same time, these households are most distant from work, shopping and leisure opportunities and least able to afford car travel.