Operating since 1953, the Australian City
Transit Association brings together all the publicly owned rail,
bus, tram, and ferry authorities in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide,
Melbourne, Canberra, Darwin, Kalgoorlie, Hobart, and Perth.
Membership has doubled in the past two years. APTA and ACTA are
engaged in strengthening their linkages, and Peter Moore has
kindly consented to provide an overview of what's happening in
public transit on the other side of the world. You'll be
surprised at the familiarity of the transit challenges faced by
our colleagues in this friendly country that shares so many of
our traditions and lifestyles.
By Peter Moore
Executive Director
Australian City
Transit Association
As in many other parts of the world, the
providers of urban public transport in Australia are questioning
their role in the delivery of services. And like most other
countries, they are pursuing policies to become increasingly
competitive in the delivery of all facets of urban transport.
Government-owned providers of urban transport
around the nation are focused on the adoption of commercial
principles, a reform process now yielding very positive results.
Cities both large and small are adopting the
challenge of reducing reliance on private motor vehicles to
embrace urban public transport and alternative modes of travel.
Like most other western nations, Australia has
adopted the car culture. The car has become integral to people's
way of life and is perceived by many as an instrument of choice
and freedom. Australia has gone from 10 people per motor vehicle
in the mid-1930s to 1.7 today, and this trend is still
increasing.
The major cities of Australia can no longer
sustain this growth, and they are actively engaged in initiatives
to encourage the expanded utilisation of urban public transport.
Among the policies being adopted:
giving priority to public transport
through the creation of reserved bus lanes and the
utilisation of intelligent transport systems;
improvements in the supply of urban public
transport services and interconnection, in particular
with high speed rail and with airports;
concentrating urban development around
transport modes, encouraging the conversion of empty
offices into housing, and ensuring the easiest possible
access to employment through mass transit; and
charging tolls for roads and increasing
parking charges.
Brisbane Transport,
Queensland
Brisbane Transport is the core provider of bus
and ferry services in the metropolitan area of Brisbane,
Queensland, one of the fastest growing areas in Australia.
As a fully commercial business unit, Brisbane
Transport is unique in Australia in providing quality public
transport within a local government environment. The vision of
the organisation is to improve the accessibility and mobility of
Brisbane by integrating transport planning within its social,
commercial, and environmental planning framework.
During the past year, over 48 million
passengers travelled on one of Brisbane Transport's 580 buses and
a further two million on 16 ferry boats. Vigorous patronage
increases have been recorded on both modes, with 12 percent
growth on the bus network and 20 percent on ferries since 1993.
This has been accomplished with an 18 percent
productivity improvement since 1994 and an annual increase of up
to 2.5 million kilometres travelled each year.
Perhaps the most outstanding achievement in the
past few years has been the introduction of the new ferry
service, CityCats. This express service now operates on the
Brisbane River and has proven to be very popular with commuters
and sightseers. The service has become a visible symbol of the
"River City."
The boats feature the latest technology in
catamaran design, allowing them to cruise at 27 knots and create
virtually no wash. The boats have a capacity of 108 passengers
and were built in Queensland following an international tender
competition.
Brisbane Transport is well underway to
achieving its objective to improve productivity by 30 percent.
Significant changes in this reform package include:
ongoing bus network redesign with savings
reinvested in better bus services;
creation of satellite depots to improve
service efficiency;
rationalisation and integration of bus and
ferry ticketing systems;
large investments in team training; and
workplace redesign to minimise service
disruption and improve productivity.
Citytrain, Queensland
Citytrain operates fast, efficient, and modern
electric train services throughout South East Queensland. Of all
commuters now travelling to and from the Brisbane central
business district, 25 percent use the Citytrain network.
Citytrain experienced a 6 percent growth in
patronage last year and opened the new Gold Coast Line, with
patronage on this new service exceeding all expectations.
Citytrain has recognised that, with the
sustained growth being experienced in Brisbane and nearby
regions, application of urban rail transport is the key to the
sustained livability of the city and its environment.
CityRail, New South
Wales
CityRail is the principal urban public
transport provider in Sydney, the largest city in Australia,
delivering comfortable, reliable, and efficient suburban, outer
suburban, and regional train services.
CityRail patronage also shows sustained growth.
On a weekday, 2,200 services carry more than 850,000 passengers.
CityRails fleet consists of 1,536 carriages with single and
double-deck electric sets. The network incorporates 298 stations
with 1,700 kilometres of track over 900 route kilometres.
The organisation is focused upon planning rail
transport services for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, with two
major projects currently proceeding:
a new underground Southern Railway linking
the central business district with Sydney Airport's
domestic and international airline terminals; and
construction of an entirely new rail link
to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games site.
Like other urban public transport groups around
Australia, CityRail has adopted a commercial outlook to business
to revitalise the Sydney commuter network.
State Transit, New South
Wales
State Transit, the provider of bus and ferry
services in Sydney and the region, consists of three major
business units:
Sydney Buses, providing metropolitan bus
services around the metropolitan area;
Sydney Ferries, the major ferry provider
on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River; and
Newcastle Bus and Ferry, buses and ferries
serving a major regional centre at Newcastle.
State Transit has recognised that only by a
shift from private motor cars to public transport can the
problems of air pollution and congestion shared by Sydney and
Newcastle be overcome.
Over the past few years, annual patronage
growth of 5 percent gained by the organisation reflects the
quality and reliability of State Transit's services.
The organisation has adopted a detailed Bus
Priority Plan for Sydney that includes both physical measures
(bus lanes) and regulatory measures (new rules for priority in
traffic) to provide services that meet people's needs, rather
than following traditional patterns of routes and frequencies.
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