Transport Policy

Principles

The Greens NSW believe:

1. Accessible, efficient and clean transport systems will minimise greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and energy use;
2. State transport infrastructure and major services should be publicly owned and administered;
3. People have the right to cheap, efficient and safe public transport;
4. Transport systems which favour public transport cycling, and other forms of active transport over private vehicle use are both environmentally superior and more socially inclusive;
5. A shift to rail for long distance passenger and freight transport is an important and effective response to global warming and peak oil;
6. The state transport system must be integrated and planned to minimise economic disruption resulting from increasing costs and scarcity of transport fuels;
7. Cycling and walking are important forms of transport and deserve far greater support and funding; and
8. Air transport is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and depletion of scarce oil resources.

Goals

The Greens NSW aim to:

9. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from both the production of the transport infrastructure and the provision of the transport services;
10. Encourage public transport, cycling and walking over private vehicle use;
11. Reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and oil in particular, as a transport fuel;
12. Make freight transport safer and more environmentally sustainable;
13. End Public Private Partnership (PPPs) arrangements for transport projects; and
14. Provide a safer environment that caters for a variety of cyclist needs and purposes.

Detail

The Greens NSW will, with regard to:

Greenhouse gas reduction and peak oil response

15. Support and promote car-sharing initiatives;
16. Lobby for reforms to State and Commonwealth taxation rules so that company cars and company-purchased public transport are treated equally;
17. End the construction of new motorways that would increase capacity while supporting road safety upgrades in urban areas;
18. Enforce priority traffic measures such as bus lanes, transit lanes and bicycle lanes;

Affordable and accessible public transport

19. Initiate an extended program of public investment in public transport and rail freight to improve existing services and extend new services to areas of need;
20. Allocate bus, rail and light rail services according to passenger density in urban areas;
21. Subsidise public transport services in areas where such services are not otherwise profitable due to low population densities;
22. Replace over time private bus operations in NSW with publicly owned bus and light rail services to a standard at least equivalent to that currently offered by public bus services in comparable areas;
23. Maintain sufficient staff levels to ensure that public transport services are safe, user friendly and efficient;
24. Provide public transport information online, in print and by telephone in languages other than English;
25. Retain and extend concession ticket provisions, including periodicals, across all private providers of public transport services;
26. Integrate ticketing so that travellers can make seamless journeys on all types of public transport;
27. Develop efficient and attractive interchanges between different public transport types, including secure bicycle storage, kiss-and-ride facilities and radio-alerted taxi connections;
28. Ensure that all railway stations, bus stops, ferry wharfs and light rail stops provide adequate seating, shelter, bicycle storage, and timetable information;
29. Accelerate the Easy Access program to provide lift access to CityRail railway stations and extend appropriate access to all stations;
30. Improve public transport services both within and between regional centres in NSW;
31. Develop seamless public transport links with all adjacent states and territories;

Integrated planning

32. Remove the powers of the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) to propose motorway projects, and vest responsibility for all transport planning with a single agency;
33. Amend Section 94 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to allow local councils to use developer contributions for local and regional public transport schemes, under the coordination of the Ministry of Transport;
34. Negotiate with the owners of existing privately owned tollways for a reduced or zero toll for vehicles with three or more occupants during peak congestion periods;
35. Require motorway tunnels to be filtered to world's best practice, strengthen compliance measures, and remove enforcement of compliance from the RTA;
36. Support the relocation of Kingsford Smith Airport (KSA) to outside the Sydney basin, and the immediate commencement of a process to identify potential replacement sites, taking account of stringent environmental and social criteria;

Use of fuels

37. Work for the government to establish a Peak Oil Taskforce to provide strategic advice on how to mitigate the impact of peak oil, especially in relation to critical local facilities such as hospitals, schools and fire and emergency services and to protect the supply of food and water;
38. Introduce US style Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFÉ) standards;
39. Support the development of high efficiency electric vehicles where they can be charged from low-carbon energy sources;
40. Replace current light commercial vehicles with light electric and rechargeable hybrid light commercial vehicles for the transport of freight in urban areas;
41. Invest in rail as the predominant mode for long distance freight transport, with the planned but urgent expansion of freight rail infrastructure to minimise the risk of social dislocation; 
42. Develop and implement a public transport and freight rail investment strategy to reduce NSW's dependence on petroleum;
43. Develop biofuels only when there is no competition with food production and minimal impact on biodiversity, natural resources and productive agricultural land;
44. Phase out the use of semi-trailers and B-doubles as the major form of freight transport between cities and replace them with a combination of urban rail, maritime transport and non-articulated trucks running on biodiesel;
45. Remove competitive road advantages by implementing pricing mechanisms which incorporate externality costs such as environmental and social impacts, the costs of traffic congestion and damage to roads;
46. Reduce air transport by ensuring airfares reflect their long-term environmental and social impacts.

Cycling

47. Provide free passage on public transport for bicycles;
48. Develop a safe, secure network of on-road and off-road cycling routes, bicycle parking and end trip facilities; and
49. Allocate at least 5% of the state roads budget to, and remove from control of the RTA, bicycle programs in NSW.

Motorcycles (defined in this policy as under 1200cc and not two stroke vehicles)

50. Reduce tollway fees for motorcycles (relative to cars).
51. Allocate the first and last parking spaces on each street to motorcycles on city streets that already have kerbside parking spaces.
52. Allow motorcycles to use on-road bus lanes (but buses retain right of way).