Daily struggle to find parking is strangling Western Sydney
COMMUTING from Western Sydney is getting more painful by the year as more cars are forced onto the roads because of poor parking at train stations.
Go West
Don't miss out on the headlines from Go West. Followed categories will be added to My News.
COMMUTING from Western Sydney is getting more painful by the year as more cars are forced onto the roads because of poor parking at train stations.
An NRMA survey has found commuter parking is under enormous pressure because so many workers in the west have no choice but to drive to the station.
And for a staggering 80 per cent of workers from Western Sydney, it found their daily commute has gotten even longer in the past year.
Many are spending more time on the roads, not only because of traffic gridlock, but because they cannot find a park at their local stations.
The survey of 415 businesses in the region found about one in five commuters have no choice but to drive to access public transport.
NRMA President Kyle Loades said commuters from the west suffer more with each passing year because they are forced to drive at least part of the way to work.
“In the west, the only option for most workers is to get in their cars at least part of the journey, whereas most people living closer to the city can rely on catching a train, bus or ferry,” he said.
The State Government has rolled out about 1200 more commuter parking spaces across Western Sydney since 2011 and have 1500 more in the pipeline.
Mr Loades said while this is a good start, a lot more needs to be done.
He called on Premier Mike Baird to urgently boost investment in commuter parking before congestion further cripples the quality of life of workers in the west.
“Implementing park and ride on an unprecedented scale at railway stations is every bit as important to Western Sydney businesses and commuters as completing the road and public transport network,” he said.
He said another way to deliver some relief for drivers would be to advise them via mobile apps and signage where to find parking to save them time driving around.
About half of the businesses surveyed said their staff regularly lost time searching for a park while a third said customers were have trouble accessing them.
“Poor parking perpetuates congestion,” Mr Loades said.
Nepean riverfront project boon
PENRITH Council has been handed more money to beautify an area overlooking the Nepean River — in time for its inaugural river festival.
Job growth on north-south tracks
EARLY figures commissioned by the Western Sydney Rail Alliance show nearly 165,000 Western Sydney jobs could be created by a north-south rail link to the future Badgerys Creek airport.