City of Sydney mayoral candidate Sam Danieli proposes free tram service from Central to Circular Quay to revitalise CBD

A challenger to Clover Moore’s 20-year reign has revealed some of his top priorities, including subsidised parking for tradies and free trams between Central and Circular Quay.

Mayoral candidate Sam Danieli is proposing free light rail between Central and Circular Quay in a bid to revitalise the nightlife and accessibility of the CBD. Picture: Rohan Kelly

A challenger to Clover Moore’s 20-year reign has promised to push for a free tram service in Sydney’s CBD if elected lord mayor, claiming the city has been “left behind” other parts of the country.

Sam Danieli, an independent mayoral candidate for the City of Sydney, also wants to make it more affordable for tradespeople to drive into the CBD, pledging to partially subsidise their parking.

Mr Danieli has identified the free tram service, which would run between Central and Circular Quay, as one of his top priorities.

The chartered accountant and former Warringah mayor wants to make the Sydney CBD “more accessible” and “spur people to come back into the city”.

Mr Danieli said he couldn’t why the issue had not been raised sooner, claiming people had effectively been “locked out” of the city for years.

Light rail in the Sydney CBD. Picture: Christian Anstey

“It’s a good incentive for people to know they can come back into the city,” he exclusively told The Daily Telegraph.

“It’s more accessible and they can get around and do their business up and down the city.”

Four of the major cities in Australia all have free transport options, with a free tram zone in the Melbourne CBD, free city loop bus in Brisbane, free central area transit buses in Perth, and free city connector bus in Adelaide.

Mr Danieli said Sydney “shouldn’t be left behind”, declaring his policy was a “no-brainer”.

“I think especially after Covid, it’s these sorts of things that you’ve got to do in order to make the city more accessible,” he said.

Mayoral candidate Sam Danieli is also proposing to establish yearly passes for tradies who have to park in Sydney’s CBD for work. Picture: Rohan Kelly

While the ultimate decision isn’t up to the council itself, Mr Danieli said the City of Sydney had the ability to influence the state government to work together in introducing the free tram service as a priority.

He believed it would only cost a “drop in the ocean” and, in the long-term, would boost the economy, saying it would ultimately be an “investment” into revitalising the city.

Although Mr Danieli didn’t think the plan was too far-fetched, he was open to the idea of introducing a trial period as soon as November, in the lead-up to the Christmas period, to prove how good the idea was.

“Let’s do a trial and see how well it’s received,” he said.

“I can tell you that it will be so successful that, once you do it, then you won’t want to make people pay again.”

A parking infringement notice.

Mr Danieli’s transport plan doesn’t stop there, with tradies to be offered designated parking areas in the CBD.

Tradies would be required to buy a yearly parking pass, but Mr Danieli said this would cost far less than paying at a meter each trip.

“They’ve (currently) got to carry their tools back (and forth) hundreds of metres before they get to where they need to go,” Mr Danieli said.

He cited Premier Chris Minns’ push to transform commercial buildings into residential apartments and said, with that, there would be an influx of tradies working in the city in years to come.

One tradesman, currently working in Wynyard, said someone on his site had narrowly missed out on receiving a $500 parking fine on Wednesday, highlighting how “easy” life would be if a policy like Mr Danieli’s came to fruition.