Molonglo residents moving in - prepare for decades of road congestion

Last week the Canberra Times carried a story on residents preparing to move into the new residential developments in Molonglo. I think It is important to note that there is no adequate public transport infrastructure ready to cater for these residents. ACTION Buses have released 'network 2012' and no Molonglo routes are mentioned. The 'Network 2012 route map' does not even show Molonglo. A massive public transport failure. 

This ACT Government planning failure dooms Molonglo residents to having to use cars to travel around Canberra. It means that a family MUST have two cars or be socially isolated. it means that commuters have no choice but to drive to work. 

Affordable housing is not so affordable when the costs of an extra car are added to the family budget. The NRMA estimate this extra cost to be a minimum of ten thousand dollars a year. 

ACT Light Rail made a submission in 2007 recommending that prior to residents moving in, that  light rail be built between Molonglo and Civic, or Molonglo, Weston Creek, Woden and Civic. This would ensure that the decades of lost productivity, road congestion and bickering over access would not be repeated. 

It of course, did not occur. The ACT Government are road focussed and the NCA really have no power over such a decision. 

Ironically, even though the ACT Government love building roads, they always skimp on that building with a single lane road one year, a dual lane road a few years later, then a dual carriageway ten years on, then after another five or so years a dual carriageway with an extra lane added, which they will then come along and mark oddly to cater for recumbent bicycle fanciers. Pleasing no one, and tripling the cost of the road construction. I present Flemington Road and Gungahlin Drive as prime examples of this bizarre enthusiasm.  

The NCA and ACT Governments own reports on Molonglo development already pointed out that road access into and out of the new development would experience road congestion. Each of the future projections indicated more and more roads would need to be built and expanded. There was no mention of BRT or LRT. ACT Light Rail proposed light rail and a design that favoured public transport access.  

This was the finding of the NCA in May 2008, on these issues:

Report on Consultation National Capital Plan Draft Amendment 63 – Molonglo and North Weston National Capital Authority 

1.17 Transport and Traffic 

Issues 

Twelve (12) submissions raised issues with planning for sustainable transport infrastructure and implications of new urban development on existing roads. 

A number of submissions raised concern that relevant traffic studies and modelling have not been undertaken, or objected to traffic flow projections produced in the Preliminary Assessment. It was generally established that integrated transport planning needs to be given a high priority, and that any sustainability scenario would envisage a greater provision for public transport initiatives. 

Of note were those submissions that advocated the need to investigate light rail as an alternative to buses for public transport, and to increase public transport patronage. These submissions noted that the existing public transport system in Canberra does not cope with demands placed on it, and is not attractive in its current form and service level. 

Suggestions included a light rail link from Molonglo to Woden and/or Civic to aid in reducing congestion on roads; reducing travel times; and providing an opportunity to increase density along major public transport routes. 

A number of submissions commented on the potential pressures that may be placed on existing roads with the increase in population, and noted the need to upgrade existing major roads such as Cotter Road and Lady Denman Drive. It was noted that Tuggeranong Parkway needs to remain the major transport connection between Molonglo and Woden. 

NCA Consideration 

The detailed design, including the provision of services and infrastructure is the responsibility of the ACT Government, including the investigation and development of transport infrastructure throughout the Molonglo and North Weston area. DA63 identifies a proposed Inter-Town Public Transport Route, however this is only indicative. In this case it aligns with options presented in DV281 and the Preliminary Assessment. 

The indicative route does not specify the mode of transport, and therefore does not preclude light rail. The mode of transport will be determined by the ACT Government. 

Light rail as a public transport option has not been investigated significantly by the ACT Government for the Molonglo and North Weston development. Instead, development of the area is considered an opportunity to expand and strengthen the inter-town bus network by creating an orbital system in additional to the existing line haul system. 

Recommended Changes 

No change. 

Submissions page updated

The 'Submissions' page has been updated. It now contains links to submissions made by ACT Light Rail to Federal and Local transport and planning consultation processes, dating back to 2009.

Click on the Submissions page tab above.

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Gungahlin to Civic Transit Corridor - ACT Light Rail submission

ACT Light Rail have provided a submission to the ACT Government on the Gungahlin to Civic Transit Corridor Study. It is available in PDF form from here. This article provides the recommendations from that submission.

Your comments are welcome.

Gungahlin to Civic Transit Corridor - ACT Light Rail recommendations

The recent Civic to Gungahlin transit corridor study has been released and once again the focus has been placed on the cost of light rail compared to bus rapid transit. It is not a valid comparison. Additionally a fantasy of turning Northbourne Avenue into a promenade has been used to inflate construction costs.

ACT Light Rail in their submission advised the ACT Government:

• to select light rail; and
• to begin detailed engineering reports for a two track light rail line running from Civic to Gungahlin, with limited stops along Northbourne Avenue. 

ACT Light Rail do not argue that light rail is suitable for every cities public transport requirements, but in the years that we have been lobbying for it in Canberra, it has become more and more suitable for our city. Our consistent stance is that light rail can provide the backbone of Canberra’s mass transit with ACTION buses providing increased local services.

It is important that this model be implemented as road congestion is increasing, the bus network is barely coping and parking is decreasing. Road construction continues without public debate, while proper investment in sustainable public transport infrastructure is opposed by politicians and treasury.

This government needs to be careful or its current transport and planning policies will gift future generations a city with all the disadvantages of high density, and none of the benefits. Failing to build light rail will deliver that outcome. ACT Light Rail therefore submit that the following outcomes arise from the current study:

• Any investment in modifications to Northbourne Avenue for Bus Rapid Transit would be a waste of public money and should be abandoned.
• The best option would be to begin planning for light rail and increase the frequency of buses on the Northbourne - Gungahlin route until light rail was running.
• The kerbside option should be abandoned.
• The light rail option would consist of two lines running from Gungahlin to Civic, with stops at Gungahlin, Mitchell, Epic, Dickson, Macarthur Avenue and Civic.
• The light rail line is suitable for access by ACTION buses.
• Traffic signal priority is designed into light rail vehicles.
• The stops at Gungahlin, Mitchell and Epic should be ‘Park and Ride’ stations. The stations themselves could be quite simply constructed, to protect commuters from the weather and provide adjacent access to ACTION buses.
• If more elaborate facilities were decided upon, the private sector may even consider constructing these park and ride stations.
• Increased frequency local services be coordinated with the light rail timetable
• A light rail depot is built in Mitchell.

These realistic recommendations remove much of the ridiculous overblown fantasy costs of complete reconstruction of Northbourne Avenue, from an 8 to 10 lane road with light rail running along each side, back to the vision that many Canberrans have.  A vision first created by Walter Burley Griffin when he designed that wide median strip with rails along Northbourne Avenue on his first rough sketches of our nations capital.

The Ministers own consultants agree with him, as they say in the concept plan ‘LRT is the best overall outcome for Canberra”. 

ACT Light Rail submission on ACT Transport Plan 2011-2031

ACT Light Rail today provided the ACT Government with their submission in response to the draft ‘Transport for a Sustainable City 2011-2031’ transport planning document.

Mr Damien Haas, Chair of ACT Light Rail, said that the ACT Government plan was a disappointment in that it was locking Canberra into a high density, congested, car-dependent culture – while the government was trying to pretend that the future high density Canberra would be built around public transport.

He said that while ACT Light Rail were pleased that the ACT Government has finally issued its latest strategic transport document, some two years late, sadly there was too little actual planning provided for mass transit Public Transport in the form of light rail.

The Government have hired expensive foreign consultants to tell them what they want to hear – that buses are the way to go. They talk ‘light rail’ but really its ‘Bus-ness as usual’. Their own bid to Infrastructure Australia proved the benefits to Canberra – but today its the ‘Study that dare not speak its name’, not being referenced at all in their ‘strategic planning ‘ document Mr Haas said.

‘The entire plan really lacks a cohesive vision’, Mr Haas said. ‘Increasing density and buying more buses is the extent of their plan and it means that they are just surrendering to road congestion. Future generations will regard this as an opportunity squandered.’

The submission by ACT Light Rail also makes the following points:

·    The draft Transport plan discusses openly the aim that medium and high density housing will be built along ‘transit corridors’ which means bus routes.

·    By encouraging medium and high density housing, without providing the proper public transport to support it, Canberra will experience all the disadvantages of high density housing, and none of the advantages.

·    The draft Transport plan is also disingenuous when it talks of light rail. Where light rail is mentioned, it is scant, and promises yet more ‘studies’.

·    Not once is the Infrastructure Australia bid for light rail funding from only two years ago mentioned.

·    There are no real plans for how exactly the government will convince motorists to shift from cars to public transport. The 2031 target is still only 16% of trips taken by public transport.

·    The plan will actually reduce local bus services and increase trip times in urban areas.

·    The draft Transport policy has no funding models attached to it and states several times that buses are the future for Canberra’s public transport.

On the subject of funding, Mr Haas said that this was the area in which ACT politicians could show real vision and leadership. “They had no problem smiling for the cameras when Majura park funding was announced, we would like to see the same effort applied to securing funding for light rail, and we make several recommendations on how they can achieve that funding – ranging from issuing bonds, borrowing money (like they have for the Majura parkway) or entering into a Private Public partnership.” Mr Haas said he had tried to meet with the Minister to discuss this but his meeting was cancelled and not rescheduled. 

ACT Light Rail suggest that Transport for Canberra immediately start planning for light rail to be introduced into Canberra, and explore the funding models required for that to occur. To plan for a high density city without an appropriate public transport system to serve it, this Government is locking future residents into a more congested, car dependent, less sustainable future.

ACT Light Rail recommendations summary.

These recommendations are taken from the ACT Light Rail submission

1.  Given the lead-times for light rail and the fact this is a 2030 plan, this draft Transport policy document should make a definitive statement that ‘yes, the ACT is going down the light rail path’.

2.  An engineering study needs to be carried out immediately, so that a revised bid to Infrastructure Australia can be submitted.

3.  ACT Light Rail would like to see the ACT Government and federal political representatives apply the same level of effort to a bid for public transport funding, as was applied to the funding for the Majura Parkway.

4.  The ACT Government, in consultation with local communities and business, to take the lead in planning and transport requirements for town centres and neighbourhood hubs, so that in the future there will be adequate public transport access, parking and pedestrian safety.

5.   If the ACT Government truly wants to bring about a medium to high density ‘compact city’, they need to plan proper mass transit using light rail, and then encourage Transit Oriented Development.

6.  ACT Light Rail do not think cars or carparking in town centres should be banned, which is where we fear this plan is taking us. The ACT Government should not force people into using public transport. It should offer a better alternative to private transport.

7.  The Transport plan must contain details of a program to encourage active and public transport use by ACT residents. Every day residents are subjected to numerous advertisements for private cars, yet public transport advertising is almost nonexistent.  Advertise the alternative.

8.  In addition to increasing rapid and intertown services, local bus services must be increased to at least three times an hour, and not decreased to a once an hour minimum as proposed in the draft Transport plan.

9.  The ACT Government must have an active feedback mechanism, that can acknowledge and act on feedback received from residents and Community groups.

10. The draft Policy, while very densely stocked with positive goals and aspirational objectives, lacks a clear vision when it comes to public transport.

11. By providing a viable alternative to the private car, many families could shift from being two car families to single car families – saving an estimated $10,000 a year (NRMA figure).

12. With a light rail network established, Active transport would also grow as people are able to more easily take bicycles on light rail vehicles, and will be more open to walking.

13. ACT Light Rail recommend that instead of constantly dismissing light rail as ‘too expensive’ the ACT Government explore the many funding models available and commit to construction.

The full submission can be found here.