Government report highlights need for greater investment in mass public transport to connect communities with jobs

FEEL like your daily commute to work is getting longer and more frustrating? Well, it is.

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IF YOU think it’s taking longer to get to work you are right.

The average trip in an Australian city has increased from 2.5km in 2000 to 7.5km today, a federal government report has found.

That’s just the average, and other sources report commutes of 40 minutes and more, one way, in Sydney to turn up for a job.

The State of Australian Cities 2014-15 report acknowledges the problem of providing transport systems that link communities with places of employment.

And it indicates a need for greater investment in public transport.

“Public transport performs many critical functions in Australia’s cities. As a minimum, public transport provides a base level of mobility essential to everyday life for many who cannot or choose not to own or drive a car for certain trips,” says the report released by Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss.

Its findings show it’s not just population growth pushing up demand for public transport.

“In the past decade, the rate of average annual growth of public transport patronage (2.4 per cent) surpassed the rate of population growth in capital cities (1.8 per cent),” the report states.

The federal government has distanced itself from planning or paying for expanded public transport in cities, arguing it was a task for state governments.

Labor’s infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese today said the problem of cities could only be resolved by mass public transport while the federal government was focused on funding tollways.

Mr Albanese used the report’s release to again call for a federal minister for cities “to re-engage with urban policy and our cities”.

And he accused Mr Truss of delaying the report, saying it was actually for 2014.

“They’ve released a report that was written last year and indeed printed last December that they held onto and, according to the departmental secretary (Mike Mrdak) during the last Senate estimates, was gathering dust.

“He indicated it might need to be pulped. That’s because the federal government wants to keep away that information from the Australian public.”

The report indicated the problems of Sydney could soon afflict rapidly growing Melbourne.

It found that the Victorian capital’s population grew by 200 a day over the past decade, adding about 750,000 people.

Sydney remained our biggest city but had a lower growth of almost 600,000 people.

“Simply creating jobs in an area is not necessarily sufficient to increase the employment of residents of that area, as those jobs could be filled by people travelling from elsewhere, directly impacting transport demand, both in distance and mode of travel,” the report states.

“Major transport infrastructure can play a critical role in shaping the growth of cities, and if properly planned, can direct future housing and employment growth to areas that improve productivity and equality of access to jobs and services.”

Originally published as Government report highlights need for greater investment in mass public transport to connect communities with jobs