Media 14 June 2007

Council budget - “Moving Brisbane” in the right direction?

Brisbane City Council’s 2007/2008 transport budget is a slight improvement from last year, but has still failed to get the balance right.

Initial analysis shows that $450million (69%) is devoted to roads; $173mil (27%) to public transport; $24mil (4%) to walking and cycling; and $2.5 million (>1%) to travel demand management.

“The Lord Mayor and Councillors will not achieve their election mandate of reducing congestion until spending on walking, cycling and public transport exceeds road spending,” said CAST spokesperson Tristan Peach.

“Brisbane does not need any new major roads – what we need are public transport, walking and cycling networks that carry 30 to 40 percent of trips – only then will congestion be reduced,” said Mr Peach.

“By wasting money on unnecessary road projects the Council is putting a huge additional burden on ratepayers, and wasting money that should be spent on climate change programs and increasing the rainwater tank rebate,” said Mr Peach.

The $173 million for public transport is a $44 million increase from the $129 million allocation for public transport in 06/07 budget.

CAST believe this money needs to go into cost effective projects that have major benefits for public transport users.

“This year we want to see a comprehensive network of T3 lanes rolled out across the city, more high frequency BUZ services and more buses feeding into train stations,” said Mr Peach.