☞ See centre page for more details of induced traffic growth on the M4 the on growth traffic induced of details more for page centre See

to be extended further into the inner west and CBD! and west inner the into further extended be to

public transport development of funds. It is time for light rail light for time is It funds. of development transport public

will benefit if the Inner West stands up and says NO to the RTA. the to NO says and up stands West Inner the if benefit will

and the environment. The simple fact is that there is not enough not is there that is fact simple The environment. the and car use throughout the region while at the same time starve time same the at while region the throughout use car

public transport solutions that have lower impacts on communities on impacts lower have that solutions transport public picture reasons for rejecting the M4East too. as a whole a as Sydney too. M4East the rejecting for reasons picture

dysfunctional mess we have now. The M4East will entrench will M4East The now. have we mess dysfunctional

as a transport solution, the less attention is given to higher capacity higher to given is attention less the solution, transport a as for rejecting all of the RTA’s motorway options, there are bigger are there options, motorway RTA’s the of all rejecting for

and functional system we once had, not more of the of more not had, once we system functional and

denied money. The more governments focus on motorway building motorway on focus governments more The money. denied While saving local homes and neighbourhoods is a sound reason sound a is neighbourhoods and homes local saving While

Communities in the inner west need a return to the efficient the to return a need west inner the in Communities

While motorway building continues, public transport is being is transport public continues, building motorway While

of denying public transport precious catch-up funding. catch-up precious transport public denying of

deteriorating travel times experienced on the roads today. roads the on experienced times travel deteriorating

so that there are now two congested roads instead of one. of instead roads congested two now are there that so through the Tollway Cashback scheme. This would have the effect the have would This scheme. Cashback Tollway the through

combined factors led to the pollution, gridlock and gridlock pollution, the to led factors combined

remained congested and traffic volumes on the motorway soon grew soon motorway the on volumes traffic and congested remained the private sector company access to state government funds government state to access company sector private the

transport services saw a decline in local amenity. These amenity. local in decline a saw services transport

the M4 was built between Mays Hill and Prospect, Parramatta Road Parramatta Prospect, and Hill Mays between built was M4 the M4East toll amalgamated with the existing toll on the M4, giving M4, the on toll existing the with amalgamated toll M4East

car traffic caused by people who abandoned the inferior public inferior the abandoned who people by caused traffic car

traffic. Motorists avoiding tolls will use it. When the last section of section last the When it. use will tolls avoiding Motorists traffic. It is also likely that the tollway lobby will try and have the have and try will lobby tollway the that likely also is It

diesel buses battling to do the work of the trams. The increased The trams. the of work the do to battling buses diesel

money for no real gain. Parramatta Road will not be relieved of relieved be not will Road Parramatta gain. real no for money

East would help to increase trafficvolumes and boost revenue. boost and trafficvolumes increase to help would East

despite local opposition. The result was noisy and inefficient and noisy was result The opposition. local despite

The M4East would continue this tradition, wasting huge sums of sums huge wasting tradition, this continue would M4East The to reach the traffic volumes published in its prospectus. The M4 The prospectus. its in published volumes traffic the reach to

This efficient and high capacity network was dismantled, was network capacity high and efficient This

The , like the , is unlikely is Distributor, Eastern the like Tunnel, City Cross The Lost opportunities Lost

were low on noise pollution. noise on low were

paying a heavy price. heavy a paying

and counter-productive. and

Being electric trams, they didn’t emit exhaust fumes, and fumes, exhaust emit didn’t they trams, electric Being ■

become irrational and dysfunctional with local communities local with dysfunctional and irrational become

was the existing network. The end result has been hugely expensive hugely been has result end The network. existing the was

has the effect of skewing transport planning so that many decisions many that so planning transport skewing of effect the has Streets were more livable for locals, and… locals, for livable more were Streets

supposed to relieve. The motorway is great in the off-peak, but so but off-peak, the in great is motorway The relieve. to supposed

their businesses to thrive, so they encourage it. This motivation This it. encourage they so thrive, to businesses their without detracting from the character of surrounding suburbs. surrounding of character the from detracting without

traffic back onto the surrounding network that the M5East was M5East the that network surrounding the onto back traffic

construction of tollways is that traffic congestion actually helps actually congestion traffic that is tollways of construction Frequent services that moved large numbers of people of numbers large moved that services Frequent

■

checks and pollution levels exceeding safety limits. This pushes This limits. safety exceeding levels pollution and checks

One of the main problems with private sector involvement in the in involvement sector private with problems main the of One per tramcar instead of the 40-70 on buses) on 40-70 the of instead tramcar per

The M5’s tunnel is often closed because of crashes, maintenance crashes, of because closed often is tunnel M5’s The

helped to boost ailing traffic volumes on the Eastern Distributor. Eastern the on volumes traffic ailing boost to helped

Higher carrying capacity than buses (up to 80 passengers 80 to (up buses than capacity carrying Higher ■

hot-spots were created. were hot-spots

When the M5East was built, the additional traffic it generated it traffic additional the built, was M5East the When

Leichhardt and Haberfield benefited from trams in many ways: many in trams from benefited Haberfield and Leichhardt

on the parallel rail line fell and new bottlenecks and congestion and bottlenecks new and fell line rail parallel the on

Clash of interests of Clash

the inner west. Neighbourhoods like Five Dock, Lilyfield, Dock, Five like Neighbourhoods west. inner the across the network suddenly rose after opening, passenger journeys passenger opening, after rose suddenly network the across

an extensive tramway network served network tramway extensive an 1958 November Until millions of dollars every year. every dollars of millions them to grow and congestion to return. Meanwhile traffic volumes traffic Meanwhile return. to congestion and grow to them

levels initially fell on some alternate routes, it didn’t take long for long take didn’t it routes, alternate some on fell initially levels Tollway Cashback schemes. These cost tax payers hundreds of hundreds payers tax cost These schemes. Cashback Tollway west was better in the 50s! the in better was west

reached capacity and was carrying around 80,000. While traffic While 80,000. around carrying was and capacity reached of the Infrastructure Borrowings Tax Offset Scheme (IBTOS) and (IBTOS) Scheme Offset Tax Borrowings Infrastructure the of

vehicles on average each day. But within one year of opening it opening of year one within But day. each average on vehicles money, large subsidies are provided by governments in the form the in governments by provided are subsidies large money,

Public transport in inner in transport Public

Before construction, the RTA said the M5East would carry 60,000 carry would M5East the said RTA the construction, Before involvement as a way of saving governments and tax payers tax and governments saving of way a as involvement

Even though the RTA and the road lobby talk up private sector private up talk lobby road the and RTA the though Even as history shows, reality and the RTA’s claims are different. are claims RTA’s the and reality shows, history as

polluting people movers! people polluting

claim that if their motorway isn’t built the economy will suffer. But suffer. will economy the built isn’t motorway their if that claim inevitable subsidies from the state government to the tollway. the to government state the from subsidies inevitable

quiet, efficient and non- and efficient quiet, trams: Modern

▲ and direct through traffic away from local communities. They also They communities. local from away traffic through direct and Chatswood rail link will be delayed even longer because of because longer even delayed be will link rail Chatswood

talk about the need to reduce traffic congestion, increase travel speeds travel increase congestion, traffic reduce to need the about talk shelved Parramatta to Epping section of the Parramatta to Parramatta the of section Epping to Parramatta shelved

Whenever the RTA rolls out a plan for a new motorway they always they motorway new a for plan a out rolls RTA the Whenever money to do both. Just for a start, if the M4 East goes ahead the ahead goes East M4 the if start, a for Just both. do to money

RTA’s options and demand the development of a comprehensive public transport strategy instead. strategy transport public comprehensive a of development the demand and options RTA’s

destroy somebody’s home or ruin someone’s local neighbourhood. This is why the community must reject all the all reject must community the why is This neighbourhood. local someone’s ruin or home somebody’s destroy

and congestion levels for the inner west. All options will result in more road traffic and air pollution, and all will all and pollution, air and traffic road more in result will options All west. inner the for levels congestion and

IT DOESN’T MATTER which version of the M4 East you look at, any option would result in higher traffic volumes traffic higher in result would option any at, look you East M4 the of version which MATTER DOESN’T IT

for Sydney’s inner west inner Sydney’s for

The M 4East will be a disaster a be will 4East M The M a k i n g a b a d p r o b l e m w o r s e s r o w m e l b o r p d a b a g n i k a M

P O L I T I C A L A N A L Y S I S Have your say R T A What the RTA really Tell the RTA to get stuffed thinks about the M4 SECRETLY, the RTA is not confident of getting the M4 East project off the ground. We know this because their usual pattern One people. One planet. of behaviour is to just dump a full-blown Environmental Impact One slab of asphalt. Statement (EIS) on the community. No road project that’s been put through the EIS process has been knocked back. But this time the pattern is different. Instead, the RTA has produced an ‘Options Study’, which is low on detail and easier for a M4 East Madness government to walk away from if the political backlash looks as though it might cost them state seats. There’s lots to do! The RTA’s co-option The State Government is under pressure from the construction 1. Fill in the enclosed coupon and send it to strategy revealed industry to find the next big project. The RTA and private sector EcoTransit Sydney. We’ll hand them over to the RTA tollway lobby always want more roads—they’re good for and make sure the media knows! business! Together, these interest groups put a lot of internal 2. Photocopy the coupon and get as many of your pressure on state governments and the big construction family and friends to sign as possible. companies are big donors to both major parties. But when in full public view the pressures become different. Voter backlash 3. Write a personal letter to Premier Bob Carr. Ask him for a comprehensive public transport strategy and community anger enter the political equation. instead of a motorway. Write to: The Government knows that votes in the seats of Port Jackson Premier Bob Carr and Drummoyne are not a done deal. Their back-flip over Callan Parliament House Macquarie Street Park before the last state election is proof of this. In the past, the Sydney NSW 2000 government has said no to the RTA and the road lobby. When Carl Scully announced that no M6 Motorway would be built 4. Phone your local member and protest! through southern Sydney, he didn’t just save hundreds of homes, Port Jackson Drummoyne Sandra Nori Angela D’Amore wetlands and parts of the Royal National Park. He was also 9660 7586 9713 2999 working hard to secure Miranda, the state’s most marginal seat. 5. Contact your local community group and get If the community fights the M4 East and refuses to be sidelined involved: Residents Against Tollways, call Jason by debates over long versus short tunnel options, but stands firm on 9810 1916 or Email [email protected] and says no to all motorway options, the Government will force the RTA to back down. An emphatic NO is the best way to defend For further information: homes in the direct line of fire and preserve local neighbourhood PO Box 630, Milsons Point NSW 1565 amenity. It also provides an opportunity to fight for a www.ecotransit.org.au comprehensive public transport network for thewhole of Sydney. [email protected] All worth a good fight! M o v i n g p e o p l e n o t c a r s Digital mischief by Greg Zhukov E IV R VICTORIA RD D HOMEBUSH Y A BAY H B US EB M CONCORD RD HO HOMEBUSH No relief for congested

M4 MOTORWAY intersection due to increase DRUMMOYNE PARRAMATTA ROAD in capacity of existing M4 Massive intersection CONCORD chaos and bottlenecks BURWOOD RD BALMAIN RUSSELL LEA created by long tunnel D ROZELLE R option H Increased traffic from T Additional lanes on GIPPS ST R O FIVE DOCKshort tunnel option existing motorway N T

A

section will create E

R HOMEBUSH BAY DRIVE LILYFIELD induced traffic growth G HOMEBUSH QUEENS RD

K PARRAMATTA ROAD DE N P LI LEGEND D T HOMEBUSH WEST OY ES BR TY W O CI Short tunnel option STRATHFIELD D

Long tunnel option N D BURWOOD HABERFIELD R GLEBE Slot option Y RAMSAY ST E L R ANNANDALE Surface road improvements A

D ENFIELD T Major roads S CROYDON K BALMAIN RD IC Railway lines R E D LEICHHARDT THE BOULEVARD E Parks R F BURWOOD RD D Water POOL R ASHFIELD ER IV 0 0.5 1 km L Congested intersection, Increased feeder increased motorway traffic PARRAMATTA ROAD SCALE traffic from the south mixes with local traffic Increased traffic from short tunnel option, Increased traffic due to toll avoidance from long tunnel option The real effects of the RTA’s motorway Induced traffic options reveal a strategy of disaster what it is and how it happens IF YOU LOOK at the RTA’s M4 East options closely, it’s hard to see why anyone would want to build any INDUCED TRAFFIC is the big increase in car trips that of them. None of them make sense. All of them simply make traffic worse and generate huge new bottlenecks occurs after the opening of a new motorway or the widening at key locations. It is unclear how any of the options might form part of a broader transport plan for the of an existing road. The increase occurs because, when area that would help to manage traffic and improve access throughout the wider inner city area. more road space is added to the network, congestion Clearly, the RTA are not serious about trying to build the exposed to huge increases from stacks. temporarily drops so that it becomes more attractive for slot option. It’s simply a scare tactic, so the community The RTA has not provided any cost estimates for this drivers to use the road. This can result in drivers making needn’t bother thinking about that one. The so-called choice option, but there would be very little spare change from longer trips or making short trips more often than before. is between a short and long tunnel option. $500m. While they state that the road would be Drivers respond very quickly to new road capacity, so a Let’s start by considering what both have in common. First, privately funded you can bet there will be a wide range big leap in traffic typically occurs within months of the both will involve a widening of the existing of subsidies in the form of associated road works that new road or road widening being opened. As the road from two to three lanes in each direction between Homebush State Government would pay for and attempts to becomes congested and travel times increase, the rate of Bay Drive and The Boulevard at Strathfield. This will have amalgamate tolls with the existing M4 so that tollway traffic growth slows until it reaches the same congested the effect of increasing traffic volumes along that section. companies can take advantage of the Tollway Cashback state it was in before. This will accommodate motorists who wish to use the M4 scheme. In the final analysis, value for money is low Where does the extra traffic come from? and will simply deny public transport further funding. as they have before but avoid paying tolls on the new Several types of changes to travel patterns may occur M4East. At the same time the additional capacity will Long Tunnel after a new road has been built. These can include drivers encourage new or induced traffic. Some motorway advocates Like the short tunnel, the long tunnel will increase changing their choice of route. For example, regular wrongly believe that traffic congestion at the Strathfield travel speeds between The Boulevard and Concord journeys involving the same origin and destination might bottle-neck will suddenly disappear and some residents have Road at Strathfield through to Fredereick Street and be made quicker by using the new road. Traffic engineers been informed that there will be no exit or entry ramps at Parramatta Road at Haberfield—at least in the off-peak. call this ‘traffic reassignment’. this point. This is complete nonsense. Widening of the The higher toll would encourage higher levels of toll Some drivers choose to go to different destinations. The existing M4 section will ensure that very little changes. avoidance in off peak periods, pushing traffic back onto destination is further away, so the distance travelled Short Tunnel Parramatta Road and existing networks. becomes greater even though the travel time remains the same. This is called ‘traffic redistribution’. The short tunnel will increase travel speeds While many residents in Haberfield feel In Sydney, shifts the long tunnel will keep traffic out of between The Boulevard and Concord Road from public transport, How the opening of the at Strathfield and Frederick Street at You’ll hardly notice their area because it would avoid an exit M4 tollway generated 30 particularly rail, to per cent more traffic ramp at Dobroyd Parade, traffic from the Parramatta Road and Dobroyd Parade at private car use is Average vehicles per day (thousands) on M4 Haberfield—at least in the short term and in Frederick Street exit would still be able and common after 96,484 off-peak periods. The additional capacity to access Dobroyd Road—a route that motorway openings. If through this section will give rise to induced will be used by motorists avoiding tolls. a journey by private 74,030 traffic growth. This has happened before The RTA claim that they would have to car is made quicker, 72,954 when the M4 from Mays Hill to Prospect introduce tidal flow measures on the commuters using rail was opened in May 1992. An additional to help cope with all the may switch to car use. 20,000 vehicles on average per day flooded additional traffic. They also raise the This is called ‘mode into the M4 corridor and adjoining Great Oh yes you will! problem of queues forming as traffic from shifting’. Western Highway within three months of City West Link and battle The most controversial 23,530 opening. Local roads that acted as feeders to get onto the Bridge. Irrational though this may seem, source of new traffic is to the motorway, saw a massive increase in traffic. the RTA is no stranger to shoehorning additional ‘induced trips’. This amounts of traffic into motorway intersections. They occurs when people M4 The additional traffic will fuel development of new GWH M4 GWH M4 + congestion hot-spots at Frederick Street and at the did this with the M5 East at , make greater numbers of GWH intersection with Ramsay Street and Dobroyd Parade. spreading massive disbenefits to existing traffic across trips than they did before. March 1992 August 1992 Before M4 opening After M4 opening Neighbourhods in Haberfield will experience a sharp the network. The travel time of a M4 = M4+ increase in traffic that passes through their area. All of the RTA’s options will be expensive and all of them regular trip may be GWH = GWH = reduced to such an extent The M4 opened on 15 May 1992. Within 3 months, traffic on the Needless to say the tunnel will require exhaust stacks are pointless. All of them will generate more traffic that may combined M4 and Great Western Highway had increased by 27 per be good for tollway companies, but none of them seriously that making the trip more cent.* Two years later it had increased by 33 per cent. although the locations for these have not been revealed. often becomes attractive. *Source: Confidential report for RTA by TEC Consulting, 1992. The stacks will concentrate exhaust fumes and dump address the need to move people through the region in an them on local residents. This will add to the already efficient and effective manner. The RTA rightly point out Induced traffic growth is most common on urban networks damaging impacts of aircraft noise and exhaust that the long tunnel would encourage more private vehicles that are highly congested. Because urban densities are high emissions that residents have to cope with. to commute into the CBD and nearby areas. The short tunnel the demand for travel is also high. In these cases, well coordinated public transport systems that combine bus and The RTA claim air pollution will be reduced as a result will also have this effect. Building expensive infrastructures rail offer more effective solutions. of the motorway. This is complete nonsense. The that encourage car growth in the city centre at the expense combined effects of induced traffic growth and toll of improving public transport is irresponsible and vastly out For more details about induced traffic growth go to avoidance will see pollution levels on Parramatta Road of step with modern thinking on urban transport and land www.ecotransit.org.au and see editions of Hell on stay much the same while some residents will be use planning. Wheels.