Light rail already a winner, and project not complete

ALMOST 12 million people took a trip on the light rail over the past 12 months.

To put that in another perspective, that correlates to every man, woman and child permanently living in our city taking 20 trips throughout the year.

According to government estimates, 2.4 million of those 12 million passengers were tourists.

This result far exceeds the expectations of those involved in the project through its heavily debated birth.

What makes these figures even more encouraging is that the project is far from complete.

Planners always recognised that in a linear city such as ours, north-south connections were critical in developing an effective and sustainable public transport system.

The Gold Coast Hwy and the M1 form the rails of a ladder.

These are connected by EastWest corridors that form the rungs. Travelling north or south by vehicle often means use of the M1 to avoid the countless traffic lights through the inner city.

This then puts immense pressure on a main carriageway that must also service interstate commerce and tourism.

While the city continues to upgrade its road network to deal with growth, taking more vehicles off the roads through an integrated public transport system offers the best solution.

The light rail is anchored by the connection to the heavy rail at Helensvale in the north and its extension to the airport in the south complements the connection we use now through the M1.

Spurs or bus links by way of east-west corridors will integrate what will become a whole of city public transport system.

The advantages of taking the light rail along the Pacific Hwy are clear. There is already a high concentration of potential passengers. This direct route, initially built to service a growing tourism industry, would encourage a higher influx of tourists to frequent lesser-known southern beaches bolstering local business, and in the process, create local job opportunities.

While they will continue to fluctuate under market pressure, the recent rise in fuel prices is only the beginning.

As countries like China become more affluent, more vehicles will be produced increasing pressure for greater oil production. Oil reserves are finite, and extraction is becoming morecostly as new fields are deeper and in difficult environments.

Both are good reasons to build an effective and sustainable public transport system that reduces the need to travel by car.

Unless we bite the bullet and build our future today, tomorrow could likely present each of us with economic and logistical issues that will far outweigh our current concerns.

BOB JANSSEN, GOLD COAST & HINTERLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE