Councillor Chris Harris

Sydney residents are dependent on their cars because in many cases there is no alternative. Successive Liberal and Labor Governments have failed to invest in efficient and integrated public transport. Instead they have poured billions of dollars into roads and tollways.

Residents in the Seat of Sydney feel the brunt of this failure to invest in public transport because their streets are parked out and flooded with commuter traffic. Some of the worst situations have been addressed by road closures (eg Bourke St at Taylor square) but we can’t close all roads to through traffic otherwise Sydney would grind to a halt, businesses would suffer and people would not be able to access their own neighbourhoods. We have seen this happen with the closure of Bourke St at the south side of William St. Fortunately this intersection has been partially reopened following a widespread community campaign and support from Greens Parliamentarian Lee Rhiannon MLC and myself.

The only permanent solution to our reliance on cars is large investment in public transport. The following plan is the Greens vision for public transport. It calls for large investments in heavy rail, light rail, buses and cycleways together with integrated ticketing and high quality interchanges serviced by real time timetable information. This investment is to be financed by Public Transport Infrastructure Bonds that would be ideal investments for DIY and institutional superannuation funds.

I have developed this plan in conjunction with many Greens members throughout Sydney and Greens Transport spokesperson Lee Rhiannon MLC.

Please feel free to comment.

• View the plan