22 November 2013 Carolyn McNally Deputy Director General Planning & Programs Sydney City Access Strategy Transport for NSW GPO Box K659 Haymarket NSW 1240 Dear Carolyn, SYDNEY CITY CENTRE ACCESS STRATEGY Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA) would like to thank Transport for NSW (TfNSW) for the opportunity to comment on the Sydney City Access Strategy (the Strategy). The benefit that can be delivered through the strategy is obvious; given the substantial inefficient congestion already impacting Sydney’s supporting road and rail passenger transport networks. The development of the strategy is particularly timely, given its clear-minded analysis of opportunities to minimise the delivery impacts from major projects, like the CBD and South East Light Rail project; while maximising the contribution they make when operational. The Strategy presents a well-considered and thorough analysis for how to manage these substantial changes, while improving the long-term productivity and functionality of the CBD. Given the depth and strength of the draft strategy, IPA’s submission restricts its substantive commentary to two core areas: 1. the movement of freight; and 2. integration across the transport system. The development of the Strategy, combined with the delivery of the CBD and South East Light Rail project, presents TfNSW with a unique opportunity to reconsider the design of the CBD’s key infrastructure networks. It represents an opportunity to create much-needed capacity and improve the productivity of the CBD, in turn delivering economics benefits for the entire State. In the coming two decades demand for access to the CBD, from both freight and passenger transport is forecast to significantly grow. By 2031, the number of people travelling to the city centre each day is forecast to grow by 145,000 trips.1 Over the same period freight journeys (articulated and rigid 1 Transport for NSW 2013, Sydney City Centre Access Strategy, p. 7 1 trucks, and light commercial vehicles) travelling in and out of the inner Sydney region are expected to increase by 24 per cent, from 124,377 trips in a day in 2011 to 154,279 trips in 2031.2 Without change these increases in demand will have a material impact on the efficiency of the CBD and in turn the wider productivity of the State. Sydney’s CBD is a fundamental component of the State’s economy, generating $70 billion of activity every year.3 The efficient operation of this precinct is hugely important, impacting both the people who live and work within the CBD and the wider NSW economy. In the context of these challenges the options for continually increasing the capacity of this high- density, high value precinct are limited. Instead consideration must be given as to whether the operation of the existing infrastructure within the CBD can be reformed in order to increase capacity and extract greater value. IPA’s submission will focus on this issue - how to drive greater efficiency from the CBD’s existing infrastructure – focusing on the operation of freight and the integration of the public transport network. 1. ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA) is the nation’s peak infrastructure body – formed in 2005 as a genuine and enduring policy partnership between Australia’s governments and industry. IPA’s formation recognises that through innovation and reform, Australia can extract more from the infrastructure it’s got, and invest more in the infrastructure we need. Through our research and deep engagement with policymakers and industry, IPA seeks to capture best practice and advance complex reform options to drive up national economic prosperity and competitiveness. Infrastructure is about more than balance sheets and building sites. Infrastructure is the key to how Australia does business, how we meet the needs of a prosperous economy and growing population and how we sustain a cohesive and inclusive society. IPA draws together the public and private sectors in a genuine partnership to debate the policy reforms and priority projects that will build Australia for the challenges ahead. 2. THE CHANGING NATURE OF THE CBD FREIGHT TASK The movement of freight in to, out of and within the Sydney CBD would benefit from a deeper focus within the Strategy. While the strategy identifies the need to better accommodate delivery and service vehicles working within the Sydney CBD, the document lacks a long-term focus on how the city’s freight task is forecast to grow and change, and what impact this will have on the operation of Sydney’s CBD – both for freight and non-freight users. The importance of freight to the health of the State’s economy cannot be overstated - the efficient operation of the New South Wales freight network is critical to supporting and creating economic 2 NSW Transport Data Centre 2010, February 2010 Release Freight Forecasts (IPA Analysis) 3 Transport for NSW 2013, Sydney City Centre Access Strategy, p. 7 2 growth. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Sydney CBD, where a variety of commercial freight vehicles travel into and out of the CBD on a daily basis, collecting and delivering goods. Both the impact and benefits of the CBD freight task extend beyond the businesses directly involved. Freight vehicles share infrastructure with passenger transport and pedestrians, meaning they directly impact the wider operation of the precinct and are an important component of the CBD transport task. Over time the nature of the freight task is forecast to change influencing how freight vehicles will operate within the CBD. In the short term the delivery of a number of large scale projects – Barangaroo, the Wynyard Walk, the new Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour and the CBD and South East light rail. These large-scale signature projects will be delivered alongside a dispersed, but nonetheless high intensity, commercial real estate delivery programme within the CBD, driving a rapid increase in the number of freight vehicles entering, exiting and moving around the precinct. Figure A graphs the projected number of freight trips within the Statistical Local Area of Inner Sydney between 2006 and 2036. Two clear trends emerge from these forecasts. First, the size of inner Sydney’s freight task is growing – between 2006 and 2036 weekday freight trips in and out of Inner Sydney are forecast to grow by over 35 per cent, from 117,247 trips in 2006 to 159,691 trips in 2036.4 Second, the growth in the weekday freight trips will almost entirely result from an increase in the number of trips made by light commercial vehicles. Figure A indicates that over the next 20 years the growth in the overall Inner Sydney freight task will follow the growth in the use of Light Commercial Vehicles, while the growth in heavy commercial vehicles will remain static. This trend is anecdotally supported by the growth of the online retail market and the corresponding increase in ‘white van’ activity from the increasing demand for small parcel deliveries during business hours.5 4 NSW Transport Data Centre 2010, February 2010 Release Freight Forecasts (IPA Analysis) 5 Whyte, S 2013, ‘Postage costs soar by 30% as online retail booms’, The Sydney Morning Herald, April 8, 2013. Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/business/postage-costs-soar-by-30-as-online- retail-booms-20130407-2hewv.html 3 Figure A: Weekday freight trips travelling in and out of inner Sydney 2006-2036 170000 160000 150000 140000 130000 120000 110000 100000 90000 Total 80000 Heavy Commercial Vehicles 70000 Light Commercial Vehicles 60000 50000 40000 No. of average weekday freight trips 30000 20000 10000 0 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031 2036 Source: IPA Analysis of February 2010 Release Freight Forecasts 3. ADDRESSING THE CBD FREIGHT CHALLENGE It is clear that the structure and operation of the CBD freight task is undergoing a period of growth and change. Without action the forecast changes to the movement of freight within the Sydney CBD will have a material impact on the operation of the CBD and in turn the efficiency of the New South Wales’ economy. The development of the Strategy presents TfNSW with an important opportunity to understand how the operation of freight in the CBD is changing and identify the strategic frameworks and policy initiatives necessary to effectively cater for this change. In its current form the Strategy includes a number of good recommendations about the operation of service delivery vehicles within the CBD. However in the context of the forecast changes to the CBD freight task these recommendations could go further. The scope of the strategy should be widened to include: a strategic planning framework to manage the short and long term changes forecast for the movement of freight within the CBD; and policy initiatives to enable the most efficient use of the CBD’s existing freight infrastructure. 4 3.1 A STRATEGIC PLANNING FRAMEWORK FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF CBD FREIGHT The forecast changes for the movement of freight within the CBD in both the short and long term will have a material impact on the day to day operation of the entire precinct. Limiting the impact of these changes and maintaining the productivity of the CBD will depend on the strategic planning frameworks put in place by TfNSW to accommodate these changes. In its current form the Strategy makes a number of important recommendations for managing changes to the CBD over the short term. Most importantly the establishment of the City Centre Transport Taskforce, tasked with developing planning and logistics strategies for major events and construction periods will be crucial to managing the significant changes the CBD will undergo over the next five to 10 years, with the delivery of a number of large-scale projects. While these recommendations are necessary and welcome, the projected nature of the future CBD freight task will necessitate a more comprehensive framework to understand and manage the impacts over both the immediate and longer term.