Posts filed under ‘transport’
Questions on climate action raised at Wills Budget Forum
Peter Khalil MP with Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh MP at the Wills Budget 2018 forum
A few members of Climate Action Moreland attended Peter Khalil’s budget forum with guest speaker Andrew Leigh (Shadow Assistant Treasurer and a former Economics Professor at Australian National University).
There were a few questions on climate change, and Labor’s climate policy, raised in this wide ranging forum. And, no, we didn’t stack the audience to ask questions on climate. Climate action is one of the issues that does have a consistent high profile and is of great concern to many citizens of Moreland.
Here is the report by Climate Action Moreland convenor John Englart, and his specific question on the need to address the growing transport climate emissions through infrastructure funding.
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Carbon emissions and footprint of different transport types
Comparison of carbon emissions, and footprint, by transport type. Chart by @ElliotFishman via @PTUA
While transition to Electric Vehicles is perhaps a part of the solution, the real need is to increase public transport quality, service and frequency, and increase cycling and walking infrastructure, to create environmentally friendly social urban environments where people want to work, live, and visit and live their lives.
Transition to Electric Vehicles is only a small part of the solution, even when these vehicles are 100% renewables recharged (ie not dependant on a largely coal based grid). Electric Vehicles still contain a substantial space footprint use in our urban environment.
We already have so many parking issues around the Moreland municipality that just changing to electric vehicles isn’t going to solve the many space and parking problems in an urban environment, whether it be in Brunswick, Coburg, Glenroy or Fawkner. We clearly need to think laterally to find solutions.
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Climate Action = Sustainable Transport
Upfield path at Brunswick station
This comes just as the sad news on Friday night of the tragic death of a cyclist who was car door-ed on Sydney road and thrown in the path of a truck. The cyclist was an Italian visitor to Australia. He was unable to be revived at the scene. Much of Sydney Road was closed to Friday evening’s peak hour traffic because of the death.
This highlights that there is much to be done in improving cycling infrastructure to increase cyclist safety as cycling continues to grow and expand in the Moreland municipality. The Upfield Bike Path is already choking with congestion during morning and evening peak times as the main north-south route.
While Moreland Council has been receptive to improving cycling infrastructure, this requires more substantial long term urban planning involving the State Government and VicRoads and funding at Federal and State levels. We need a cycling superhighway, fully separated from vehicle traffic, running north-south from Park Street to the Western Ring Road, with feeder paths to the east and west.
Peter Allan also nailed the issues regarding cycling in Moreland in this pre-election 2014 video:
More people cycling results in less vehicle emissions, plus providing an added community health and social benefit through active exercise. Improving walking, cycling and public transport contributes to reducing emissions under the Zero Carbon Moreland plan.
Public transport also needs improving in expanding the network and it’s efficiency. The Dan Andrews Victorian Labor Government has set about it’s promise of removing 50 level crossings with grade separation in Melbourne, including Munro and Bell street on the Upfield line and Glenroy Rd on the Craigieburn line. The announcement that the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel project will go ahead will also increase rail capacity through the rail network, a much needed improvement. The Greens suggested extending the No 19 Sydney Rd Tram line service to Fawkner: an even better idea would be extend the Sydney Rd tram past Fawkner to the Campbellfield shops, as suggested by Sustainable Fawkner.
Improving sustainability needs pressure on all three levels of government to make the infrastructure changes necessary as community behaviours change.
John Englart
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Transport Forum question on Climate change and heatwaves
The Moreland Transport Forum was held on Monday, just a few hours after Premier Denis Napthine signed the East West Link contracts. A few of us from Climate Action Moreland attended handing out our leaflet on East West Link being Climate Madness, and a climate postcard.
Andrea Bunting from our group submitted the following question to be asked at the forum. It was the most highly rated question.
With climate change, we are facing a hotter, carbon-constrained world. Currently during heatwaves we can experience power failures for public transport, unbearable heat in trams and trains, and buckling of train tracks. Dark roads also amplify the urban heat island effect; hence temperatures in our urban areas are much hotter, leading to increased deaths and illness. What will you to do (a) reduce dependency on fossil fuel usage in transport; (b) ensure that all transport infrastructure can deal with heat waves; and (c) reduce urban heat island effect from dark roads?
The question was asked slightly differently in person at the forum to all three candidates – sitting member for Brunswick Jane Garrett MP, Greens candidate for Brunswick Tim Read, and Liberal Party no 2 on the ticket for Northern metro region (Upper house) Gladys Liu.
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