Brunswick Labor.net

Patronage on Melbourne’s public transport network has hit a record high with 450.8 million passenger trips made in the past financial year a record high driven by growth of 12.7 per cent with trams and buses achieving 158.3 million trips and 91.3 million trips respectively.

Since the release of the East West Needs Assessment Study Report there has been a vigorous debate over its recommendations.

There is a very strong community view that:

• Action is needed to meet demand for sustainable transport services
• Action is needed to address social disadvantage
• Action is needed to ensure that the transport sector makes a contribution to meeting ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
  

Our community has told us via public meetings, conversations in the shops, on the street corners, via phone, letter and email and on the internet that their priority is for a better sustainable transport network. They want better public transport networks that provide real access and choice. They want better walking and cycling infrastructure to cater for people who walk and cycle to work, to shop and to socialise.

The Brunswick community will have the opportunity to participate in a live, online forum about Sir Rod Eddington’s report into Melbourne’s east-west transport needs.



On Friday 11 July, the Government will lead a 2.5 hour, online discussion about recommendations in Sir Rod Eddington’s report – Investing in Transport.

In developing the best transport plan for the community, the government has said it wants to hear from those people who cycle to work, drive across town and catch trains, trams and buses.

To participate register on the Premier's website, www.premier.vic.gov.au

Young drivers are being mailed out free green P Plates as the new probationary driver system is set to go on July 1.

From 1 July 2008 a new four-year, two-stage probationary license system will begin across Victoria, replacing the existing three-year license.

The new system is expected to save up to 12 lives per year under the Victorian Government's road safety strategy, Arrive Alive!

There is some confusion up at Moreland and more than a whiff of political opportunism on the part of some councillors in regards to the State Government's decision to aid the development of activity centres like Coburg.

Below the fold is my full speech last week on the State Governments support for Coburg 2020...

As I said, this is a shared vision of mine, as the local member for Brunswick, and of the member for Pascoe Vale. This is a vision that will have an influence on both our electorates. We understand the importance of Melbourne 2030. We understand the importance of a more sustainable city. We want to get on with the job. We think we have been given the tools to get on with the job. We are very keen to work with Moreland council, and I think the majority of Moreland council is keen to work with the state government and its local MPs. But, as I said, there are those members of the Greens party in Moreland who would rather play politics with these important projects.

They are trying to turn an important project of urban renewal into an area of political conflict, to be able to attack the Victorian government and their state representatives.

ALP State Conference on the weekend passed a strong resolution on the direction of transport policy in the state.

The resolution adopted on transport positions the Party following the Eddington report. It calls for a metropolitan transport action plan that

• addresses transport disadvantage by providing mobility and choice, especially in outer Melbourne;
• reaffirms our commitment to 20 percent of all journeys by public transport in metropolitan Melbourne by 2020;
• enhances the liveability of Melbourne
• addresses rail capacity constraints;
• upgrades bus service standards; and
• addresses the need for the transport sector to make a major contribution to meeting Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
  

While there is much more work to be done in this area, however the ALP supreme decision-making body has made a strong statement around the priorities to be applied to transport policy.

Full text of the resolution is below the fold.

Babies and young families, home buyers and services are the big winners in the 2008-09 State Budget, Carlo Carli, Member for Brunswick said today.

“New figures released today show we are in the middle of a baby boom,” Mr. Carli said.

“Over 73,700 births recorded last year – the highest since 1971 and we are rolling out initiatives to make sure families have the services they need for their children.”

Carlo told the meeting while there were good and bad things in Eddington the report opened up an opportunity not just to oppose the tunnel, but also to acheive a paradigm shift in favour of funding for public transport in Victoria.

The meeting resolved to oppose the cross city road tunnel and set up a community campaign in response to the Eddington report.

Speech to Parliament, Wednesday April 9th...

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- I wish to congratulate the City of Moreland for staging on Sunday, 13 April, the second Cyclovia event. Cyclovia was first staged in Moreland in 2006, and it involves closing Sydney Road to cars for 4 hours between the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. Basically it allows locals to walk, cycle, push the pram, rollerblade or take whatever other means of active transport they choose. It is really a celebration of reclaiming the streets, promoting health and promoting active forms of transport.


The movement has become worldwide. It started 30 years ago in Colombia, and it has now spread to countries like France, Italy and beyond, and obviously it has arrived in Moreland. It is a local event which tries to emphasise the importance to people's health of being active in their choice of transport, and which celebrates modes of transport other than the motor vehicle. It is an event which is designed not to totally close off Moreland from traffic, and obviously there are other roads that are made available for cars, but it certainly allows Sydney Road to be a great celebration point.


Moreland is the centre of the renaissance of cycling. My electorate of Brunswick has the highest proportion of people commuting to work in Melbourne. Many people now travel using bicycles.

The Eddington Report on East West transport links will be released today. The details have been splashed around the media over the last few days. As expected there will be a recommendation for an East West tunnel to join the Eastern freeway to Citylink and then over to the western suburbs joining up at Ballarat or even Geelong Rd.

The surprise is that Eddington has recommended that no such exits be built. He has accepted the argument that any exit ramps aimed towards the CBD would increase downstream congestion. This makes the project much more marginal for private investors. The economic model of the financial backers of the project was that money was to be made funnelling and tolling traffic into the CBD. It therefore makes it unlikely that the tunnel can be funded as a private sector toll road.

Therefore without significant State or Federal funding the tunnel will never be built. I also expect the poor cost benefit of the project will see the tunnel project fall over. There just is not much traffic that flows from western Melbourne to the Eastern freeway or vice a versa.

Eddington also proposes a very large rail project. This involves an underground metro link between Caulfield station, through to North Melbourne and then Footscray stations. In the long term this project is probably necessary to increase the capacity of the loop. However the debate will be whether there are more worthwhile rail projects in the short to medium term. Certainly outer areas of Melbourne will want to see extensions to rail provision ahead of increased capacity.

The cost of Eddington’s recommendation will be around $20 billion. More importantly there is a desire by the Brumby Government for an extended debate.

As a supporter of sustainable transport it is important that the debate is broad and looks not at just the issue of more roads and rail but the conditions that will allow for mobility with a reduction of car dependency. We need to look at world best practice and we need to at the transport divide in Melbourne. A divide between the public transport, walking and cycling friendly inner areas and the car dependent outer suburbs.

Carlo Carli MP has welcomed the announcement that all Melbourne metropolitan train passengers will get free early morning travel from the end of this month following a trial of the ‘Early Bird’ ticket.

The Early Bird Metcard, which provides free travel for passengers scheduled to arrive at their destination by 7am, would be expanded across all 15 lines on the metropolitan train network.

_{The following speech is due to be delivered at the Fabian Society on March 5, 2008.}

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Congestion is an accepted part of life in large cities. It always has been. Ancient Romans complained about congestion, and Londoners in the 17th century had similar complaints. And with half the world’s population now living in urban environments it is part of our modern experience. We deal with it by adapting, and when it becomes unacceptable by using modes of sustainable transport – trains, trams, buses, bikes or feet. Or we make decisions to defer our trip or change how we do things.

We can respond to congestion in a number of ways. Either by building more road space, or promoting modal shift to public transport, walking and cycling or we can use existing road space more efficiently.

Road safety will be improved in Moreland as part of a new round of road safety spending, Member for Brunswick Carlo Carli, announced today.

Mr Carli said the $95.000 project involved roads safety improvements around Brunswick.