Page 4088 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 18 November 2015
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(2) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) continue to work towards a convenient, efficient, affordable, reliable and integrated transport network for the Territory; and
(b) respond to the Auditor-General’s Report in more detail by February of 2016.”.
Canberra is growing quickly as it becomes a vibrant and diverse international city. The population is expected to increase to over half a million people in the next two decades. This will present significant opportunities for growing our city and its economy, but we must ensure that we do not make the mistakes of other cities by not investing in public transport infrastructure and future-proofing our city.
The ACT government has a long-term vision for a truly sustainable livable city and it is looking at the changes we need to make now to ensure Canberra continues to provide a good quality of life for its residents over the next 50 years. It is critical that government plans for a growing Canberra. The consequences of not doing so are costly in terms of time, lost productivity and a diminished quality of life and environment.
Inadequate transport infrastructure planning for the growth of cities can be seen through the hours of congestion commuters sit in every single week in cities like Sydney and Melbourne. I do not understand how the opposition and, in particular, Mr Coe fail to see this. The increasing costs of congestion and the burden of continually building major roads to keep pace with growth will steadily increase in the future and threaten the current high quality of life that we enjoy in Canberra.
We cannot build our way out of these challenges simply by building more roads. Proper investment and focus on public transport will be the only way to effectively manage congestion over the next 25 years. Infrastructure Australia has also recently noted these future challenges. It found that, without additional investment, the total cost of road congestion in the ACT will increase from $208 million per annum in 2011 to $703 million per annum in 2031. The economic, social and environmental impacts of increasing travel times will have wide-ranging impacts on our city if we do not do something about it now.
Stagnant transport policy relying solely on private motor vehicles and road investment will result in higher congestion, more time spent commuting each day, higher greenhouse emissions and a lower quality of life for Canberrans. As such, the government is committed to improving public transport to manage Canberra’s growth, reduce congestion and protect our livability.
Canberrans deserve a convenient, integrated, reliable, efficient and affordable public transport network to meet their needs for the future. Analysis undertaken by the ACT government highlights that the capital metro project will bring approximately $1 billion in benefits to the ACT in the form of transportation, environmental and social benefits, as well as through sustainable urban development. I was very pleased to hear Mr Coe re-announce that dollar figure—$1 billion—back to the government through the light rail project.
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