TOO LATE TO PLAY GAMES
MARKETING strategists, Commonwealth Games organisers and transport officials trying to convince the public to stay off the roads in April are facing a return volley that could not be clearer.
Gold Coast families, businesses and tradies are not at all happy with the looming traffic headache during the Games.
That marketers who came up with the Get Set For The Games advertising strategy misread the mood of commuters by trivialising the transport issue is an understatement. A flood of responses has revealed deep concern among the Gold Coast public and highlighted the sort of problems that could occur.
As one reader pointed out, she will be 35 weeks pregnant. Is she expected to walk to hospital if her baby decides to arrive early and her way is blocked by road closures and traffic jams? Others want to know what to do if they are ill and can’t reach appointments. One reader asked whether low-paid workers are really expected to tolerate gridlock for their three-hour shift. And a worker described the idea of having to lug forklift parts on a bicycle as an insult.
“Big picture’’ strategists might shrug off the concerns of individuals, but the points raised by each of them are amplified significantly when it is realised most households in this city will have concerns and – until someone produces a detailed guide that is easy to find and understand – a host of unanswered questions.
As the Bulletin said yesterday, serious and proper education is needed. It is not good enough at this stage to suggest people can go online to search for solutions. They will find lots of words but the explanations are vague, with promises of further details “early in 2018’’.
Well, with just 11 weeks to go it is crunch time. The Gold Coast is the small business capital. That drives our economy, along with construction and a host of other industries and services that demand hands-on work and therefore a lot of travel. This isn’t Canberra, where bureaucracy can simply shut down.
The public deserves clear answers to reasonable concerns about how they are to get from A to B. If the public ignores the campaign urging them to ride a bike (as if, when most workers have to drive from one end of the city to the other or up the M1), to walk or to stagger their start and finish times, what then?
What is the fallback?
The Bulletin has campaigned long and hard on transport issues in the city, and not just for the Games. We fought for light rail and to have the stage two extension completed in time for the Games. We fought for action on the M1. And we have urged the authorities to do better in setting out clear strategies for commuters other than to dismiss concerns with vacuous comments about bikes and walking.
Now the public has made it clear that cartoon characters won’t cut it in sorting out the transport mess.
Just as there is a lack of signage at the athletics and indoor stadiums at Carrara announcing the Games are close, there has been a lack of serious explanation of how the city must operate so that locals can reach their destinations and keep the wheels of industry turning.