Tags: Politics, Controversy, Transport
Yet another study in Victoria to prove that building more roads does not solve congestion problems....http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/airport-road-wont-cope-with-demand-study-shows-20100228-pb7g.html... add to that the State Government still refuses to build a rail link to the Airport. Do they know, or suspect that with Peak Oil people will have to stop flying, so why build the rail link to an Airport that has a limited lifespan..... who knows what they are thinking sometimes... which is a real point, but I will discuss that another time!
I recently decided to drive around Melbourne to visit a few potential clients. I don't usually drive around, as I live and work, by choice, within a couple of kilometres. So I was driving around all day from the inner city to the Outer Eastern Suburbs, and let me tell you, I have never come to understand more how bad the roads of Melbourne are. Congestion is so bad in some places I saw people waiting in lines, to get through an intersection, up to 2 kms long. I luckily was driving in the other direction.
Then you see the lovely East Link Tollway.... which I am sure everyone agrees is a great road for the East... it is wide, large and can handle huge amounts of traffic... however this road was almost empty when I went on it... why? Well people don't like "Paying" for a road directly, they much prefer to be lulled into a sense of security that they "don't pay" for the roads they drive on everyday.
No.... all the fuel levies and taxes you pay don't contribute to the Billions of dollars spent on the roads!! Not a cent.
I totally and completely advocate for a User Pays system like the Dutch are introducing using GPS - http://www.euractiv.com/en/transport/dutch-plan-charge-car-drivers-kilometre/article-187394
Why shouldn't it be a user pay's system? It will encourage people to live and work more sustainably.... living in the outskirts of the city and running a car should be calculated into the cost of living, and decision making of moving out to the sticks!! Simple. Pay more rent, pay less Road tax.... have more time for yourself and family... why can't people see that. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/making-our-cities-better-by-design/?referrer=email
Well planned cities are just the beginning to this, and although Melbourne is a great city, it could easily become a terrible place to live if the future is not planned well, with Cars the LAST thing considered.
