Sustainable transport (Aus reseaarch)

sadly, that is what we have so far, a proposal to the government.

http://www.alga.asn.au/policy/transport/sustran/

Effective transport is vital to the operation of most economic and social services in our communities and transport also directly impacts on many areas of local government policy and service provision.

Yet we are facing massive increases in Australia's freight and passenger movements in the next decade, while at the same time, transport systems are being squeezed in the competition for scarce resources.

While it may seem a bit of a contradiction, these pressures can actually reinforce the case for sustainable transport, rather than the expansion of our present haphazard system.

A useful start is to try and define sustainable transport.

The Centre for Sustainable Transportation in Canada has developed the following definition of sustainable transport, which has also been adopted by the European Council of Ministers for Transport:

A sustainable transport system is one which:

• Firstly, allows the basic access and development needs of individuals, companies and societies to be met safely and in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem health, and promotes equality within and between successive generations
• Secondly, is affordable, operates fairly and efficiently, offers a choice of transport mode, and supports a competitive economy, as well as balanced regional development
• And finally, limits emissions and waste within the planets ability to absorb them, uses renewable resources at or below their rates of generation, and uses non-renewable resources at or below the rates of development of renewable substitutes, while minimizing the impact on the use of land and the generation of noise

This is a very impressive and comprehensive definition and it is pretty unlikely that any transport system in the world would meet most of its requirements as yet. Indeed it is quite obvious that we have still a long way to go in Australia before we even get close to world's best practice - which is probably in western Europe and a few Canadian, and even fewer, US cities.

So what can be done to make transport services in Australia more sustainable? And what is local government's role in this?

We can try and answer these questions from two perspectives.

Firstly, making transport sustainable involves managing the pressures of a range of economic, social and environmental factors which can be both complementary and conflicting.

How can we ensure that future transport systems meet the needs of local communities in a sustainable way? Does local government have a role in public transport? What are specific policies and programs that can be applied at a council level?

Secondly, we can look at what sustainable transport means across Australia.

In regional and rural areas, 'distance' is the key sustainability issue. How sustainable are long-distance public transport services; whether rail, coach, air or shipping?

In contrast, in cities, 'density' causes problems of congestion, noise and pollution. Is an integrated landuse and transport planning framework the answer? How important is travel demand management?

ALGA has made a submission to the Australian Government for funding of a pilot program of sustainable transport initiatives at the local government level. A program of $5 million over four years would allow consideration of key issues such as integrated land use and transport planning (where local government is a core player), traffic congestion, safety, travel demand management and accessible transport.

ALGA represents local government on the Australian Passenger Transport Group (APTG), which provides the Australian Transport Council and its committees with advice on national passenger transport policy and strategy issues.

APTG has a strong focus on sustainable transport - particularly in relation to promoting alternatives to, or more efficient use of, the motorcar. It has also produced a useful discussion paper Tpt website doc 5b on the key issues and challenges affecting public transport.

ALGA also co-operates on sustainable transport issues with the Business Industry Confederation of Australia and the International Association of Public Transport.