Toby Rowallan MR Saturday Mar 21 Future Transport Tasmania launch … A new community group providing a voice for alternative transport options for Tasmania.
FUTURE Transport Tasmania, a new public group advocating increased public transport with a pro-rail agenda was launched today at the old Derwent Park railway station, with members of the public on site and waiting for a train.
The group will focus on increasing public awareness of available transport solutions, and will be lobbying both government and opposition parties for improvements in public transport. These changes would among many other benefits help reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.
Spokesperson for Future Transport Tasmania, Toby Rowallan, said; ‘We are a newly formed community based group, and we are here because there was no voice for alternative transport. So we are to advocate freight on to rail, to advocate park and ride schemes instead of bypasses. We want to encourage government in these directions, rather than the dead end of trying to build enough roads for the incessant demands of cars, which you can simply never keep up with.”
“Tasmania is very much a car-dependent state and there are comparatively few public transport options available for people. But we want to know, do people really want to be sitting in their cars crawling down the highways to get home? Do people like having no choice but to sit in a long queue waiting to get into a car park?” asked Mr Rowallan.
Future Transport Tasmania wants to see a clear commitment from the State Government to not only retaining a sustainable rail network but also dramatically increasing its capacity and use.
Mr Rowallan said; “We are pleased that the State Government has begun the job of upgrading Tasmania’s rail network, however we believe more needs to be done. We are very concerned that Asciano has been unable to sell its operations in Tasmania, but it is clear that if a buyer cannot be found, then the State Government must take over the operations, however unpalatable, and work hard to ensure that this vital part of our economy is given significant investment.”
According to the Australian Greenhouse Office, rail is responsible for less than .5% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Other reports including one presented by CRA International prepared for Pacific National, found that rail has a ‘decisive advantage’ in costs over road transport. In a submission to the National Transport Commission Dr Philip Laird from the University Of Wollongong notes that; ‘about one fatality in ten involves an articulated truck’. On this basis alone it is unconscionable that governments are not increasing funding to rail infrastructure and restricting heavy vehicle use wherever practical. Many other studies and reports exist to justify prioritisation of rail infrastructure development.
References: Australian Greenhouse Office, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2005 (others in text)
