Cars killing the cash flow of our business highway

Forum to hear financial gridlock looms large

FACING GRIDLOCK: Noosa's notorious bottlenecks could ben about to get a whole lot worse for local businesses. Picture: Geoff Potter

OVERCOMING our destructive reliance on private car transportation could choke our local economy, a forum in Noosa tomorrow will be told.

Local employers will be urged to learn how to reduce congestion, travel costs, greenhouse emissions, and demand on limited parking resources that threaten to t-bone their profitability.

The aim of the RDA Sunshine Coast gathering of experts is to urgently change the way our region tackles traffic congestion.

RDA Sunshine Coast chair Carol Cashman said if residents continued to use their cars to travel to work the region would eventually lose its unique lifestyle qualities and economic

edge.

Ms Cashman said serious congestion could only be avoided if more of us used our cars less and local employers could help by using their influence to change the travel behaviour of their employees.

"About 85 per cent of trips made by employees are by private motor vehicle," she said.

"As the population grows, this will become unsustainable and impact our lifestyle and environment.

The RDA said: "On average,motor vehicles are parked 95 per cent of the time.

"Substantial amounts of land and buildings are set aside to accommodate these stationary vehicles.

"If 25 per cent of the Sunshine Coast population left their car at home one day a week and used public transport instead, there would be 40,000 fewer vehicles on our already- congested roads each week."

Ms Cashman said the Sunshine Coast needed a sustainable transport system to meet the needs of the community and foster economic prosperity into the future.

"As we work on the delivery of much needed infrastructure over the next decade, we need to consider how we can reduce congestion on our roads today," she said.

The RDA argues that not only would less cars and greater traffic flows ease bottlenecks, but employee morale would improve and productivity along with it.

Ms Cashman said the good news was that alternate, subsidised and smart transport solutions for employees are readily available. These options will be discussed as a free forum will be held at the RACV Noosa Resort tomorrow from 9-11am.

Expert representatives

to attend include Translink, Noosa Council, trans- portation planning specialists Mott Macdonald, and RDA Sunshine Coast will address the free two-hour forums.

Register on RDA Sunshine Coast's website at www. rdasunshinecoast.org.au.