Public Transport Woes
September 26th 2006 11:13
The government is pushing for people to use public transport instead of contributing to road congestion in Australian cities.
This is a good initiative that could potentially save millions of dollars by limiting the funding needed for our road infrastructure. It would also help the environment by reducing emissions.
However, it is extremely difficult to use public transport when the government won't spend the necessary funds to ensure the system works properly.
For example, the public transport in Brisbane is very limited with only buses and trains and is virtually non-existent outside the metropolitan area. Many Queensland towns rely solely on taxis for public transport, which are really expensive, and therefore not a practical means of regular transport. The train network in Queensland is extremely poor and should be a high priority for the government to improve dramatically.
Melbourne's public transport network is better than Brisbane with trams as well as buses and trains. The infrastructure in the city is commendable, however, as soon as you want to travel to outer suburbs in Melbourne or to regional areas in Victoria, the system fails. Services are less reliable and not as regular.
You can understand services are reduced in less populated areas, but, you would think the government would ensure regular and reliable services in peak times. This would allow people to live in regional Victoria and travel to work in Melbourne or vice versa. Surely, this would increase lifestyle choices and reduce the unemployment rate, not to mention improve the environment.
There are always promotions to encourage people to live in regional areas to stop the over-population of cities. With a better public transport infrastructure, more people could live in regional areas and travel to work in the city, where the majority of jobs are.
If funds were poured into public transport, this would result in more people using this infrastructure and hence our roads wouldn't deteriorate as quickly. This would save lives, which is far more important than money.
This is a good initiative that could potentially save millions of dollars by limiting the funding needed for our road infrastructure. It would also help the environment by reducing emissions.
However, it is extremely difficult to use public transport when the government won't spend the necessary funds to ensure the system works properly.
For example, the public transport in Brisbane is very limited with only buses and trains and is virtually non-existent outside the metropolitan area. Many Queensland towns rely solely on taxis for public transport, which are really expensive, and therefore not a practical means of regular transport. The train network in Queensland is extremely poor and should be a high priority for the government to improve dramatically.
Melbourne's public transport network is better than Brisbane with trams as well as buses and trains. The infrastructure in the city is commendable, however, as soon as you want to travel to outer suburbs in Melbourne or to regional areas in Victoria, the system fails. Services are less reliable and not as regular.
You can understand services are reduced in less populated areas, but, you would think the government would ensure regular and reliable services in peak times. This would allow people to live in regional Victoria and travel to work in Melbourne or vice versa. Surely, this would increase lifestyle choices and reduce the unemployment rate, not to mention improve the environment.
There are always promotions to encourage people to live in regional areas to stop the over-population of cities. With a better public transport infrastructure, more people could live in regional areas and travel to work in the city, where the majority of jobs are.
If funds were poured into public transport, this would result in more people using this infrastructure and hence our roads wouldn't deteriorate as quickly. This would save lives, which is far more important than money.
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