Greens lament carve up of transport funds

The Green Party is calling for the government to rethink its transport funding plans and put a greater emphasis on public transport rather than “urban fringe motorways”.

Julie Anne Genter, the party’s transport spokeswoman, says the $6 billion being invested in public transport, walking and cycling over the next three years is nowhere near enough.

The cash pledge is part of $24.3b of investment through the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) announced by the government on September 7.

Other areas to receive funding under the NLTP include $6.6b for local, regional and state highway improvements.

Genter, pictured, welcomes the government’s greater emphasis on road maintenance and safety but says it would have been good to see transformational investment in public transport, walking and cycling.

“However, this budget doesn’t do that,” she notes. “Public transport services get almost no increase in funding relative to previous years.

“We are fast running out of time to address the climate emergency, and right now we must be focused on investing in low-carbon transport options. Too much money is still going on expensive urban fringe motorways that will incentivise more car travel, increasing congestion and carbon emissions.

“These expensive motorways are becoming more expensive now with the inflation of construction costs eating up a lot of the increased funding.

“Reprioritising investment into more affordable public transport fares would help people sooner without inflating the cost of infrastructure delivery, so we will continue to push our government partner on this.”

Sustainable transport options only make up one-quarter of the NLTP’s budget but Genter says it should account for the majority of new spending “if we are going to give people practical, climate-friendly options for getting around”.