After a year of government, the Minns government is overdue for a new transport plan. While it is not common to announce such things straight away, the general principle is that you don’t use the current plan of the opponent, no matter how detailed or consulted it is. However, the transport budget is not as generous as during the Gladys years with inflation impacting all sectors, a pending AAA credit rating cut, GST infighting with the states and a potential shortfall of funding will see Mookhey and the Treasury looking to produce a more “No-frills” budget approach. Also with two multi-billion dollar metro projects underway and a push to start building the next stage of Parramatta Light Rail, the transport funded initiatives proposed during the election may be pushed forward to avoid a similar fate to Carr and Scully during the early 2000s with Action for Transport and an overall halt on major transport until the Olympics were paid off to avoid a union stash over Asset recycling / Privatization.
Now it’s true that a good, modern public transport system does not exist in isolation. It does not compete against other transport modes: A good public transport network is multi-modal, fully integrated and complements roads and active transport.
Putting people and passengers at the heart of our public transport system – Jo Haylen (2022)
But this is not an excuse to do nothing (unless your’re the type of person to announce reviews and hope nobody notices) and besides the funded transport policies from the 2023 election, you still need to propose some vision for the next 5, 10, 20 years rather than just getting the trains and buses on time. It is known from the previous government that Gladys was a hard supporter of the Light Rail down George Street despite the budget being blown, community and business anger over shutdowns and delays with members opting to shelve it all-together in favour of the Central – Randwick section. There are simple transport initiatives and improvements that could be done short-term with relatively small to medium funding that often gets overlooked or not brought into attention. Here are some suggestions for the next transport plan, some of which have been proposed before in other transport plans, independent reports, and some general Occam razors ideas, before they become a problem later.
Priority 1: Fix Opal ticketing
With the next IPART review into Opal fares due this year (and the Opal contract up for renewal), it’s time for Greater Sydney to stop penalising for transferring between one mode to another. The NSW Government can do this either two ways; by surrendering to the other states and adopting zonal ticketing or simplification of fare tables by removing the bus and light rail fare tables and use the current train fare table for all modes of transport regardless of mode, charging point A to point B as one journey. In effect, this will eliminate the transfer penalty and encourage more bus to train journeys reducing car usage to the station.
The risk of changing to zonal fares is that short trips could receive a major fare increase as is the situation in Melbourne. Transperth avoids this by providing a section fare in addition to its zonal fares. As for Melbourne, it’s $5.60 for a 2km bus trip.
Regarding ferry fares, a surcharge should be recommended on weekends only to counter overcrowding the network and maintain the mission statement that Sydney Ferries is a commuter service in addition to being a popular tourist attraction where the majority of passengers travel return journeys that start and end at Circular Quay.
Priority 2: New T-Ways and B-Lines for Sydney
As noted in the Bus Taskforce, bus priority in Sydney is woeful with the last bus rapid transit project being the Bennelong Bridge in 2016 and the B-Line Northern Beaches which as noted before has little to no bus priority that was sabotaged by Northern Beaches NIMBYs despite it’s ongoing popularity and surge in patronage. Changing roads to suit bus priority should be a high priority as part of the final bus taskforce report and could greatly reverse the general stigma that Sydney’s bus network is slow and late. Infrastructure Australia has noted that Victoria Road (currently serviced by rapid route 500X) and Parramatta Road (currently serviced by rapid route 461X) be converted to rapid transit corridors with the mode of transport (light rail, bus rapid transit) up for consideration.
However, Sydney’s rail network is based a radical designed system with a transfer in the Sydney CBD required to access most lines. Having a combination of T-Ways (where roads or existing crown land can be converted to 24/7 bus transit corridors) and B-Lines (where roads can receive moderate bus priority such as at signals, bus bays and lanes) can complete the missing corridors of Sydney’s transport network to become a grid like system like most cities. Some examples noted are listed below:
- New Western Sydney T-Way’s to Western Sydney Airport from Liverpool and Leppington and between Blacktown and Castle Hill (announced in the bus taskforce report)
- New Western Sydney B-Line routes between Leppington and Campbelltown via Oran Park, St Marys and Tallawong via Schofields (as a cheaper cost option to extending the metro should it get into a funding issue)
- A new Inner West B-Line or T-Way to connect Sydney’s outbound rail lines (T1, T2, T8 and future Metro) between Strathfield / Burwood and Hurstville / Kogarah (either a new route or conversion of an existing north-south route; 410, 420 or 450)
- Conversion of existing rapid routes to B-Line with improved bus infrastructure such as 160X for the Northern Beaches, 333 for the Eastern Suburbs, 550 and 611 for the North Shore and M90 for the Inner West
Priority 3: Upgrading the Main North and South Coast Lines
This takes a page from the Victorian Government with the recent successful Regional Rail Revival and Level Crossing Removal Projects by providing new infrastructure projects for the two fastest growing intercity corridors of Greater Sydney with the overall aim of improving journey times, reliability and reducing traffic congestion on the M1 Motorways. For the Main North and South Coast, this can include:
- Rebuilt rail corridors with tunnels to remove steep curves within the Royal National Park, Ku-Ring-Gai National Park and the Hunter
- Remove Level Crossings on the South Coast Line in two stages (between Thirroul and Wollongong and between Wollongong to Shellharbour Junction) with rebuilt accessible local stations
- Duplication of the South Coast Line in stages; short-term to Dapto and then in the medium-term to Shellharbour Junction with an additional long-term plan to duplicate the Coalcliff Tunnel
- Replace low-patronage stations with new rebuilt, relocated and accessible stations. Investigations can include a new Lake Macquarie station to replace Warnervale, a relocated Kotara Station closer to Northcott Dr and the consolidation of Tascot and Koolewong, Booragal and Awaba and Corrimal and Towradgi
- In the medium term expand the program to other intercity and regional lines by removing level crossings, upgrading and consolidating stations and providing new ones
Priority 4: Information and Accessibility
Another no brainier with this one as it’s a key thing that has been brought up time and time again in transport surveys and media articles but has had little to no improvement.
- Braille at all Sydney Trains stations, bus stops and ferry wharves. Yep feels like something that should have been completed a decade ago but despite some rollout to the bus network, it’s still non-existent. Braille to indicate station / stop name, platform / stand and general directions to exits, amenities and lifts should be prioritised.
- E-ink / passenger information displays at key bus stops, on buses and at interchanges. Transport customer Surveys always state the No. 1 complaint is lack of information about on-time running and service alerts. While the information is readily available on multiple applications, new-travellers, seniors and the ignorant will need to look at screens to find out when the bus is coming or why it has been diverted. More multilingual advertising should also be promoted and the removal of timetables on frequent corridors in favour of first-last bus frequency tables.
- Multi-modal transport maps at key transport interchanges and on the Transport NSW website. The lack of a single map showing all buses in a local government area is a Sydney problem that the other states (Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth etc.) solved two decades ago, but maybe they will get it right this time. The Eastern Suburbs and Newcastle Transport are the only transport maps that are multi-modal at the time of writing.
- And finally, fast-track the B-Pole rollout so that like the above, the bus stops in Sydney are informative and accessible and are not bus stops from 1992 or in most cases in Western Sydney, nothing at all but a bus shelter or a TfNSW bus zone sign. The Bus Taskforce report noted that the B-pole has been delayed due to a lack of funds.
Priority 5: Back to 1988, Night trains for Sydney
If you’re stranded in suburbia waiting for a bus in the late night, you truly have nowhere to go. It’s surreal to see Sydney like this; the busiest roads are close to abandoned; every shop is shut. Truly no one is around
The agony of the late-night traveller – Will Thorpe (Honi Soit)
It’s universal, NightRide hate is generally because it’s unsafe, slow and hasn’t changed since 1989, which in all was down to a cost cutting budget exercise. Like the rail network, it is radical based on the idea that the only late night hub is the Sydney CBD with limited options available at the three emerging nightlife areas, Newtown, Chatswood and Parramatta as well as no integration with other night bus routes, or with each other. As an example, a journey that could take 2 trains can take 3 to 4 NightRide services, all within strategic transfer timing due to its hourly frequencies.
Providing night trains along corridors that are mostly underground such as the upcoming Sydney Metro extension can have a significant impact to the perceptions of late night transport for Sydney and bring it in line with other major cities. An example could be providing 7 day 24/7 services on Sydney Metro between Chatswood and Sydenham as the line is mostly underground. Another service that can be trialled for night services is between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD with services operating via the City Circle with key stations staffed to examine any uptick in patronage during late nights and increase more night trains on further routes similar to Night Train in Melbourne.
@kypros1992 
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