Solving congestion with more roads has led to parking problems

 Parking can hit hip-pocket nerve | The Examiner: "LAUNCESTON has the most expensive off-street one-hour council-owned parking in the state, and the city council has no immediate plans to add more parking bays to the city."

'via Blog this'

Australia Socialist Alliance - Advocates for free public transport

Policy on Public Transport: "The Socialist Alliance advocates:

• Free public transport
• Free carriage of bicycles on public transport
• Ending all tax concessions for company and company-purchased cars
• The imposition of a public transport levy on all CBD employers with more than 10 staff, along the lines of the French versement de transport.
• Special levies on developers who gain access to commercially profitable sites close to railway stations and bus interchanges.
• The reclassification and redeployment of all public transport staff whose job has been the sale of tickets to passenger assistance/security functions, with no loss in pay or conditions.
• Rebuilding public transport staff numbers to ensure safe, comfortable and efficient services.

The Socialist Alliance supports free public transport and will set up and run a national free public transport campaign which seeks to resource and support actions at the local level."

Canberra: better roads just lead to parking nightmares

Canberra's Road Network the Envy of the Nation: "The downside is we seem to becoming more and more like Los Angeles. While you can drive everywhere and anywhere, it is getting harder and harder to find a park."

Cars just don't fit in cities. We have built roads for decades as a solution to traffic congestion. This allows more cars to get where they are going quickly. But where do you put the car when you get there? In the city, this is a real problem.

Commuting to Brisbane by car costs more than by public transport

Car Commuters Likely To Earn Less, Says Report: "The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says small passenger vehicles are the most commonly sold car in Australia, and the RACQ nominates the Hyundai i30 Active as the best small car under $35,000. According to the RACQ, that car costs 59.90¢ a kilometre to run, inclusive of fuel, tyres, services and repairs. That makes the cost of the return 21.5 kilometre weekday commute $128.78, more than double the cost of public transport."

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Corporatocracy killing grassroots democracy

TheAge.com: "Freedom of speech is no small thing, but is anyone with power actually listening? If you are speaking on behalf of a community that sees its quality of life threatened by fast food outlets, freeways, power stations or coal mines, you probably shouldn't hold your breath waiting for someone in power to respond. You think it's a bad idea to invest in roads when overwhelming evidence points to the need for public transport, never mind destroying precious parkland in order to move gridlocked traffic from the end of the Eastern Freeway into a tunnel? It's not up for debate, least of all by the people immediately affected by it! Government determination to build the east-west tunnel without regard to expert opinion, community opposition, fiscal responsibility or common sense sends a clear message. They have the power and they intend to use it."

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Pensioners want free public transport

Herald Sun: "Lobby group Fair Go for Pensioners will send a submission to the government to ask that pensioners receive free public transport seven days a week."

Hot enough for you? It's #climatechange folks. The delayers were successful, but now let's take action.

Humans stoked Australia’s unprecedented ‘angry summer’ heat, study finds: "WASHINGTON—Human influences that drive global warming are likely to have played a role in Australia's exceedingly hot summer of 2013, the hottest in that country’s observational record. A new study shows that global warming has increased the chances of Australians experiencing record hot summers, such as the summer of 2013, by more than five times.

"Our research has shown that, due to greenhouse gas emissions, these types of extreme summers will become even more frequent and more severe in the future," said Sophie Lewis of the University of Melbourne in Victoria,Australia, who is lead author of the study."

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What you can buy for the cost of the East-West Tollway

https://twitter.com/RohanLeppert/status/353034343058395136/photo/1

Perth gets new $8.2 million free bus service

Australian Bus & Coach, July 1, 2013  
Western Australia’s Public Transport Authority (PTA) has fast-tracked the development of a new $8.2 million free bus service, ahead of major rail disruptions.
Perth commuters have again been warned to prepare for mass rail shutdowns related to the Perth City Link redevelopment planned for Friday July 12 to Wednesday July 17.
The new Green CAT bus service was launched on June 30, as part of a $46.7 million plan to ease the city’s congestion and help manage the rail shutdowns.
Western Australian Transport Minister Troy Buswell says the service will transport passengers between Leederville and Perth's CBD, starting July 1.
The service joins three existing free CAT services, which have operated for about 20 years.
“People are voting with their feet when it comes to our CAT buses, with eight million boardings a year,” Buswell says.
“They are hugely popular modes of transport and I expect the Green CAT will be the same, with commuters likely to use it as an alternative way into the city, or for those who want to head into Leederville to shop or meet friends for a coffee.”
The Green CAT will connect Leederville with the Esplanade Busport and is the fourth CAT route introduced to deal with growing population.
Seven new buses will operate on the route, which is timetabled to run Monday to Friday from 6am to 7.30pm.
CAT service passenger boardings account for five percent of the total number of public transport boardings a year.
The Green CAT has 19 stops on its route and will run every eight minutes in peak.
Each bus can potentially take more than 50 cars off the road.

Pensioners rally for 'fair go' -- demand free public transport

Green Left Weekly: "More than 200 pensioners rallied on the steps of Victoria’s parliament house on July 10.

...At the state level, they called for better pensioner concessions for utilities and council rates, free public transport for pensioners, and the reintroduction of the pensioner discount on motor registration.


See more at: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54499