Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

Neither minister mentioned that the "busway" increases the number of peak hour general traffic lanes by 50 %, from 2 to 3.

Inner West newspapers carried the following letter from APT:

The state government has approved the RTA's so-called "upgrading" of Victoria Road, which involves increasing the number of lanes for peak flows and a controversial new bridge over Iron Cove. The whole project is touted as being necessary in order to improve bus services.

The spin and public relations nonsense espoused by the RTA and the government on this project suggest a more sinister agenda. The public is left to speculate as to whether the peak-hour road widening, from two lanes to three, might be to feed the planned M4East motorway, or perhaps to progress the property development interests of Labor Party power brokers.

Buses on Victoria Road could be dramatically improved tomorrow, just by policing the Transit Lane. The people-carrying capacity of the road would increase immediately. Even state revenue would benefit, temporarily.

None of a succession of Roads Ministers has ever explained why Transit Lane use is not enforced. Only they and their confidants have been privy to the RTA's plans for an M4East underground motorway, and how it would be fed by more car lanes on Victoria Road.

The reasons for the government's mysterious enthusiasm for a second Iron Cove Bridge will eventually be revealed. The big question is, can it continue to conceal those reasons until after the March 2011 election?

* See ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT ACT 1979