Victoria, Australia, traffic congestion costing $3 billion per year

Traffic continues to rise at a rapid rate on the city's freeways and tollways. Photo: Joe Armao

The road to a standstill: "According to the state government, congestion has a significant impact on Victoria's ''productivity and liveability''. Indeed, the economic, social, and environmental costs of congestion have been calculated at more than $3 billion a year, which is expected to rise to $6.1 billion by 2020."


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/the-road-to-a-standstill-20130414-2hter.html#ixzz2QSMvhvpt

A "rat's nest of on and off ramps" for Melbourne

Abbott comment throws doubt on rail, road funding: "''If Tony Abbott is elected, it will be a disaster for inner-city Melbourne,'' he said. ''The suburbs that we love and that make Melbourne consistently one of the world's most liveable cities will be turned into a rat's nest of on and off ramps.''

''To suggest the federal government doesn't have a role in building public transport in major cities like Melbourne is 19th century thinking.''"

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Sydney Australia plans massive #carfree boulevard project

Car-free designs for Sydney's George St: "The city is contributing $220 million to the light rail project to make George Street one of the world's great plazas, with 25,000 square metres of roadway turned into a huge tree-lined pedestrian boulevard."

Melbourne - Freeway plans show huge impact zone in Royal Park

Freeway plans show huge impact zone in Royal Park: "State Greens MP Greg Barber said the new freeway would not reduce congestion.

"Anyone who thinks this is going to reduce traffic in the inner city is kidding themselves. This is going to turn inner Melbourne into a giant set of on and off-ramps," Mr Barber said.

Yarra City Council Mayor, Jackie Fristacky, said the freeway was a "misuse of public resources" and called for the government to prioritise a railway line to Doncaster.

"It (the planned freeway) is the worst excesses of 1970s planning, where is the consulting with the community?" she said.

Secretary of Protectors of Public Land Victoria, Julianne Bell, said the plans for the freeway were "extremely concerning".

"It is the final nail in the coffin of Royal Park," she said.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/freeway-plans-show-huge-impact-zone-in-royal-park-20130326-2grx8.html#ixzz2Oe28Vd2N"

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Free ticket to ride the bus Tasmania News - The Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania

Free ticket to ride the bus Tasmania News - The Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania: ""Drivers on Thursday will be treating non-paying passengers the same they do any other day, or any other week, or any other month," she said.

"They will say to them 'Just take a seat'."

"We take them from A to B, if they choose to pay that's fantastic, if they don't have the money we won't refuse to take them.""

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Cut the cost, not the fun | thetelegraph.com.au

Cut the cost, not the fun | thetelegraph.com.au: "For Karen and Michael Knight, of Kellyville Ridge, attending the show is a family tradition. They take advantage of the free public transport and catch a bus to the show with their children. This year they will have Tianna, 7, Noah, 3, and 10-month-old Ashton in tow."

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Car-dependency and subsidy locking us in to #climatechange

City Council opposes State Government's CBD parking tax | adelaidenow: "Mr Paine said higher parking fees would push more people to shop in the suburbs, where parking is free."

Here is why free public transport is a good investment in Australia

So what if the well runs dry?: "A few days into a significant Middle-East or south-eastern Asian conflict, Australian motorists and trucking companies would be immobilised, urban public transport overwhelmed and supplies of life-saving medications would start running out. Within a week, shops would be stripped bare and farmers would be running out of fuel for their tractors and water pumps.

The reason is that about 85 per cent of Australia's transport petroleum now comes from overseas, as either refined or unrefined product. Our dependency on imported refined fuels will rise sharply when two more domestic oil refineries close in the next two years. In a country blessed with more energy choices than almost any other on Earth, transport fuels are our gangrenous Achilles heel."

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Union calls for free child bus fares Local Gold Coast News | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Union calls for free child bus fares Local Gold Coast News | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia: "UNION officials have begun to pick holes in the Queensland Government's legislation to crack down on students misbehaving on school buses, saying it would be easier to abolish fares for children.
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Commuters 'deserve fare-free day' | The Australian

Commuters 'deserve fare-free day' | The Australian: "SYDNEY’S commuters have endured so much pain in the last month they deserve a fare-free day, the NSW opposition spokesperson for transport says."

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