NEWS RELEASE: Tram proposal not quite on track
While light rail may well be the solution to Inner Sydney's transport needs, 
the latest proposal from the City Council is far from convincing, according 
to the lobby group Action for Public Transport (APT).

A spokesman for APT, Allan Miles, said that public transport users and 
potential users will be attracted by shortened travel times, not whether the 
vehicle has tyres or tracks.

He said that the report focusses strongly on overseas examples and the needs 
of Sydney as a "global city", but is rather blurry on local detail as to how 
it will all work.

"The road lobby will attack the proposal on many fronts," said Mr Miles, 
"and the light rail people need to prepare strong defences and 
counter-attacks." "It is not sufficient to say that trams work well in 
Copenhagen, or Nottingham or other cities which have no relevance to 
Sydney," he said.

Mr Miles stressed that APT has no objections to any of the goals, objectives 
and general proposals in the report, but urged the supporters to put more 
rigour into their case.

"For instance", Mr Miles said, "many CBD bus routes will be relegated to 
feeder services and bus/tram interchanges are proposed at various places. If 
the transfers are inconvenient and result in longer journey times because of 
walking and waiting, then the public reaction will be brutal." Mr Miles said 
that the light rail lobby needs to reassure people with some detail.

Mr Miles said that the proposed Tcard system will not cater for zones, as 
the current TravelPass system does. "Individual journeys will be charged 
separately," he said, "so commuters who have to change modes will be slugged 
twice." The LRT report acknowledges this but it is important to remind 
people that integrated ticketing does not mean integrated fares.

"Much of the slow bus travel in the CBD is caused by people paying cash 
fares and asking directions." Mr Miles said. He feared that this problem 
would remain after Tcard is introduced. "People who don't buy TravelTens now 
won't buy a Tcard," he said.

For more information about the report, see
<a href=http://www.aptnsw.org.au/cgi-bin/item.cgi?20050306Sun062247>http://www.aptnsw.org.au/cgi-bin/item.cgi?20050306Sun062247</a>.

<b>Contact</b>: Allan Miles 9516-1906, or Kevin Eadie 9819-6052