PARKING PLOT FOR FEE HIKE

THERE is good news and bad news in the bid to get commuters on public transport.

The good news is that a 1500-space park-and-ride at Parkwood, designed as a car park when stage two of the light rail opens, is run by TransLink and no parking fees should apply. Many more such facilities should be part of the public transport scheme on the Gold Coast. Radical action is required before we all die of old age, stuck in a traffic jam.

But if that Parkwood facility was controlled by the council instead, commuters would be right to feel uneasy because the city plans to charge like a wounded bull for using its car parks.

So the bad news, as reported today, is the council is considering a big increase in parking prices after the Commonwealth Games to get drivers out from behind the wheel and relieve congestion in the CBDs.

If the Gold Coast was crisscrossed by a network of tram and bus services that only required say a five-minute walk for commuters to catch a ride, that would be fine.

But it is far from the case. The disconnect between rail, bus and tram services means drivers prefer to put up with traffic snarls and the battle to find a park, and will continue to do so until state and local governments fix public transport properly.

Gold Coasters today will be wondering how many councillors actually use public transport or have to pay for parking. Hitting commuters with soaring parking fees before providing adequate services smacks of cynical gouging – and councillors will feel the public’s wrath come election time.