CAR DEPENDENCY IN SYDNEY: A Case Study of Fairfield City Council

Transcription

1 PLAN9018 Planning Report CAR DEPENDENCY IN SYDNEY: A Case Study of Fairfield City Council PRATIBHA ACHARYA SID Urban & Regional Planning & Policy Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning The University of Sydney, AUSTRALIA June

2 ABSTRACT Car is one of the major transportation means in modern cities around the world. The use of motor vehicles in cities is often considered to be among the biggest polluters to the environment. Sydney as the biggest city in Australia is heavily dependent on cars. There are a range of reasons as to why many Sydneysiders depend heavily on cars. Firstly, Sydney and the surrounding regions have experienced considerable growth in population since Secondly, with this sprawl comes lower density and more dispersed settlement patterns that encourage car accessibility out of perceived need and discourages large scale public transport operations from serving these new areas. Thirdly, the availability of transport and other infrastructure is not sufficient for many suburban areas. The centralised pattern of the Sydney CBD, where all the jobs are located, has been a major problem. The aim of this report is to investigate the reasons, effects and policy responses in relation to a heavy car dependency in Sydney with a case example of Fairfield City Council. Specifically, the report focuses on four interconnected objectives a) review relevant scholarly and policy literature in order to define car dependency and to identify the key reasons and effects of heavy car dependency; b) to review relevant policies to identify as to how/whether heavy car dependency is sufficiently addressed at the local (Fairfield) and state (NSW) governments; c) to investigate the relationship between heavy car dependency and the availability of public transportation in Fairfield City Council, and d) To provide a range of possible ways that can help local and state governments in Australia to address the issue of heavy car dependency.

3 ACKNOWEDLGEMENT I would like to acknowledge the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney to provide me an opportunity to carry out this Planning Report in my area of interest. I am indebted to my supervisor Dr Krishna K. Shrestha who has inspired me with his valuable suggestions, reading materials and necessary direction. His guidance from the early proposal stage to the final stage of this Report has been very critical to shape this Report. I particularly like to thank him for constantly making himself available on short notice, offering constructive criticism and displaying a high degree of passion and support in my research. I am also thankful to my friends and colleagues from the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) 2010 for their amiable support and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, and my parents, for being a constant source of mental support and encouragement towards completion of this planning report. Pratibha Acharya June 2010

4 Table of Contents ABSTRACT... i ACKNOWEDLGEMENT... ii LIST OF FIGURES... 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction Aims and Objectives of the Study Research Methods Report Structure... 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction What is Car Dependency? History of Automobile Dependency Automobile Dependency: Reasons and Effects Key Issues of Car Dependency: Car Dependency in Sydney Conclusion CHAPTER 3: POLICIES AND LEGISLATIVE CONTEXTS Introduction Transportation Policies in Different cities Australian National Transport Policy Framework NSW State Transport Policy framework Sydney Metropolitan Transport Strategy Sustainable Transport Policies: Conclusion CHAPTER 4: CASE STUDY FAIRFIELD CITY COUNCIL Introduction Local Context The Problem Existing Plans and Policies Access and Movement:... 47

5 4.6 Conclusion CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION Introduction Principles and Strategies for Fairfield City Council Approaching the solution for car dependency in Sydney Strategic alternatives and planning/policy Initiatives Conclusion CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION _Biblography 63 _Appendix...66

6 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Proportion of trips and travelled by mode on an average weekday Types of cities The effect of car dependence on Public transport Cycle of Automobile dependency Proportion of trips and travelled by mode on an average weekday Proportion of trips by purpose and mode on an average day 2001 & Reasons for using public transport to travel to work Reasons for using car to travel to work Total distance travelled by mode on an average weekday Number of people travelling by time of day on an average weekday Proportion of households by number of household vehicles Average vehicle occupancy per trip Site plan Fairfield LGA Rail Routes in Fairfield area Employment location of Fairfield City s residents Employment location of residents Percentage of people using different modes of transport Journey to work by different transportation modes Number of Vehicles in Fairfield Industrial areas and Railway station of Fairfield LGA Profile by Train users LGA Profile by Bicycle users LGA Profile by Car Users LGA Profile by Car and Train Users LGA Profile by Total Population 59

7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION "In a quality city, a person should be able to live their entire life without a car, and not feel deprived" (Paul Bedford, 2009) 1.1 Introduction Car is one of the major transportation means in modern cities around the world. The use of is often considered to be among the biggest polluters to the environment. Metropolitan regions such as Sao Paulo in Brazil today have a private vehicle fleet of more than 6 million cars, the same amount of cars that were operating in entire India in 2005 (Rode, 2009). Worldwide, trends for commuting trips are on the sharp rise. While the average daily commute in the UK increased 6% since 1995/97, travel distances in Shanghai increased by 50% over the last ten years (Rode, 2009). In Australia during the last decade car owning has increased dramatically. The ratio of Australians owning a car has increased from 398 vehicles per 1,000 residents in 1971 to 675 in 2004 (ABS, 2004, p.5). Australia has the fifth highest number of motor vehicles per capita of all OECD nations (OECD, 2005, p. 120). In Sydney, residents have made 69 percent of their entire journey by private vehicle and number of vehicles increased to about 2.4 million for the 4.2 million people (TDC, 2009). Figure 1 indicates below the proportion of trips and travelled by mode on an average weekday in Sydney in P age

8 Fig 1: Proportion of trips and travelled by mode on an average weekday, 2007 (Source: TDC, 2009, p. 10) The above graph shows Sydney as a city is heavily dependent on cars. There are a range of reasons as to why many Sydneysiders depend heavily on cars. Firstly, Sydney and the surrounding regions have experienced considerable growth in population since The population of New South Wales is projected to increase from 6.8 million in 2006 to 9.1 million by 2036, passing the 7 million milestone very shortly, 8 million in 2022 and 9 million in 2035 (Wilson & Parr, 2008). Secondly, with this sprawl comes lower density and more dispersed settlement patterns that encourage car accessibility out of perceived need and discourages large scale public transport operations from serving these new areas (Gilbert & Ginn, 2001). Thirdly, the availability of transport and other infrastructure is not sufficient for many suburban areas. The centralised pattern of the Sydney CBD, where all the jobs are located, has been a major problem. Sydneysiders are often required to use car for a range of activities. Emissions from transport remain a massive concern even in countries with the most progressive climate policies. When it comes to cities, motorisation continues to be 2 P age

9 among the biggest polluter. Metropolitan regions such as Sao Paulo today have a private vehicle fleet of more than 6 million cars, the same amount of cars that were operating in entire India in Worldwide, trends for commuting trips are on the sharp rise. While the average daily commute in the UK increased 6% since 1995/97, travel distances in Shanghai increased by 50% over the last ten years. (Rode, 2009) The use and dependence on car is not an issue for this report. The issue that is being investigated in this study is the over dependence (or heavy dependence) on car in Sydney. Over dependence has been identified as a growing problem in Australian cities including Sydney because of its negative impacts on society, economy and environment, (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005). Some negative impacts include: Environmental (such as urban sprawl, smog and air pollution) Economic (from providing urban infrastructure across a more dispersed geographical area) and Social (including isolation, economic stratification of areas and reduced access to public services) (ibid). Important questions then to emerge are as to why do Sydney siders over depend on cars, what are negative and positive impacts and what are the policy responses in relation to addressing the issue of heavy dependency on car. This report is important precisely because it focuses on the critical issues of over dependency on cars and improves policy responses in Sydney Australia s biggest city. 3 P age

10 1.2 Aims and Objectives of the Study The aim of this report is to investigate the reasons, effects and policy responses in relation to a heavy car dependency in Sydney with a case example of Fairfield City Council. This report investigates the issue of heavy car dependency in Sydney. It focuses on four research questions with Fairfield City Council as an example: a) Reason: why do many Sydneysiders heavily depend on cars? b) Effect: what are the positive and negative impacts of heavy car dependency? c) Response: what are the policy responses to heavy car dependency? What are the policy responses to address negative consequences? d) Change: What are the aspects of policy that need to be changed to reduce heavy car dependency in Sydney? In order to answer the above research questions, the study has following objectives: To review relevant scholarly and policy literature in order to define car dependency and to identify the key reasons and effects of heavy car dependency in Sydney and in some other comparable cities around the world; To review relevant policies to identify as to how/whether heavy car dependency is sufficiently addressed at the local (Fairfield) and state (NSW) governments To investigate the relationship between heavy car dependency and the availability of public transportation in Fairfield City Council To provide a range of possible ways that can help local and state governments in Australia to address the issue of heavy car dependency. 4 P age

11 1.3 Research Methods This research employs case study as a methodological strategy. Case study research methodology is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence (Noor Mohd, 2008). Fairfield City Council is selected as a case example because it is identified as one of the examples of heavily car dependent city councils in Sydney. Analysis of the car ownership of the households in Fairfield City in 2006 compared with the Sydney Statistical Division shows that 78.8% of the households owned at least one car, while 12.6% did not, compared with 78.1% and 12.6% respectively in the Sydney Statistical Division. This study involves both secondary and primary data collection, with the first being the major element in this research. Secondary data on car dependency are collected from trustworthy sources such as journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings and government reports from the University of Sydney library. Relevant policy documents are collected from the websites of the governments. Data are also collected from newspaper articles using the University of Sydney s database system FACTIVA by using the phrase car dependency in Sydney. Primary data are collected through a number of site visits in Fairfield. I informally talked to a numbers of people in Fairfield and in my way to Fairfield in relation as to why they heavily depend on cars. I have also reflected upon my observation and travel experience as to why many people would heavily depend on car in Fairfield. Some mapping related data are analysed by using GIS. I have used SWOT analysis to interpret data. 5 P age

12 1.4 Report Structure The report is divided into six chapters. Following this chapter, Chapter 2 provides a critical review of conceptual and policy literature in relation to car dependency. Chapter 3 discusses the Policy and legislative context for car dependency issues, particularly in NSW. Chapter 4 presents results based on the case study of Fairfield City Council. Chapter 5 analyses the key findings, bringing together results from Chapters 3 and 4. It focuses on the four research questions that has been set for this research. Finally, Chapter 6 provides conclusion and recommendation with a brief summary of key findings and their implications for policy and concept of car dependency in Sydney. This study is limited to Sydney Metropolitan area and Fairfield City Council for deeper analysis. Due to time constraint a comparative study between different councils could not be carried out. The political factors influencing decision related to transport planning has not also been considered in this report. 6 P age

13 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Automobile dependence is when a city or area of a city assumes automobile use as the dominant imperative in its decisions on transportation, infrastructure and land use. Other modes thus become increasingly peripheral, marginal or non existent until there are no real options for passenger travel other than the automobile (Newman & Kenworthy, 1999, p. 28). 2.1 Introduction This chapter aims to provide a brief history of the growth of the cities with the urban sprawl, automobile and the effects to the sprawl and also about the effects of car dependency in the modern world. The main aim of this chapter is to identify the key issues of car dependency around the world and also in Sydney. In many cities, traffic demand has become more than the capacity of the road network creating congestion, urban smog and more time for travel. For the solution to these problems, one has to understand the reasons that are creating the problem. First of all the reason for people to drive cars has to be understood and then only solution can be approached. This chapter talks about the reason for people to use car as transportation medium. 7 P age

14 2.2 What is Car Dependency? There have been many definitions for car dependency but in my opinion car dependency is when the phenomenon of dependency creates a negative effect or impact to the society, people and environment. According to Newman & Kenworthy (99, p.68) automobile dependency is defined as high levels of per capita automobile travel, automobile oriented land use patterns and reduced transport alternatives. Due to automobile use people have started moving out of the city to different suburbs even though there are less public transportation alternatives. Due to this factor the land use pattern has changed dramatically. It started in early 1900 and still a major concern for the urban planners for the changed land use pattern and movement of people. Australian road safety researcher Ray Brindle however, believes the existing descriptions and strategies devised to reduce car dependency need to be reversed. He considers a car dependent person as one who is more likely to be someone whose lifestyle and/or commitments place mobility demands that only a car can satisfy, according to them, or someone who cannot envisage travelling any other way but by car, even if they could He believes we miss the point if we try to understand car travel in isolation, suggesting car dependency can only be addressed if we take a wider perspective and view car travel as part of an everyday function undertaken by a person, household or firm. 8 P age

15 Not everyone can use a public transport service for all of their trips. But getting an increased percentage of trips onto public transport has benefits for the whole community. Reducing our car dependency is a cornerstone of most modern planning objectives. Improved health, reduced stress and less wasted time are benefits that most people can get from reduced car dependency. 2.3 History of Automobile Dependency According to Newman and Kenworthy (1999), cities can be divided into three types; the walking city, the transit and the automobile dependent city. Walking city Transit City Automobile Dependent City Fig 2: Types of Cities, Sustainability and Cities (Newman & Kenworthy, 1999, pp ) 9 P age

16 The history of the walking cities dates back till the middle of nineteenth century which had the basic concept of reaching the destination oh foot within half an hour (Fig 1). These kinds of cities have disappeared and just some remain as historical cities. Some examples of those historical remains are North end of Boston and The rocks in Sydney. But with the growth in population and industries the land use pattern changed and cities started growing with the transport technology and transit systems. The cities started growing outward and medium density and mixed use areas were formed in the rail nodes and along tram routes (Scheurer, 2001). After the Second World War, the automobile gave the cities a new direction for the growth anywhere. The decentralisation of the city started and the dispersion of the people in different parts further the city was the major movement. New suburbs beyond forty or fifty kilometres from the city centre have an extra of isolation from traditional urban functions (Newman & Kenworthy, 1999, p. 32). With all the urban growth the automobile based problems were growing slowly and today this is the major concern for the most of the societies, urban planners and transport analysts. 2.4 Automobile Dependency: Reasons and Effects Thorne & Sankey (2009) have integrated reduced car dependency with a definition of sustainable transport, to develop the following aims: reducing people s need to travel, both in the number and length of journeys; 10 P age

17 changing the normal mode of transport, from motorcars to foot and cycle; and making motor vehicles more energy efficient and less polluting The figure above shows the co relation between the congestion and public transport demand. Each element in the figure is related directly to the other elements and creates a cycle. With the increase in decentralization of employment there comes the car use and vice versa which in turn increases the congestion. With the increment in congestion there is the decrease in public transport supply and also the greater demand for the public transportation. This results to the increase in car population and car use. Fig 3: The Effect of Car Dependence on Public Transport (Source: TOD, 1999) People lack affordable basic access to the public transport system, which impedes the ability to deliver on national goals like employment creation and equality of access to social services and education. Because distance and incomes are principally responsible for this problem, the key drivers of this challenge are past land use patterns and poor subsidy targeting (TOD, 1999). 11 P age

18 The change in land use could potentially drastically change how people move around and get around. Widespread urban growth and suburbanisation have provided readily affordable housing on the fringe of metropolitan Sydney. Those least able to afford housing often opt for the fringe, but automatically experience locational disadvantage which arises from the inability of low density areas to support high quality public transport services. Car dependency is reinforced (Burnley, et al, 1997). Fig 4: Cycle of Automobile Dependency (Litman, 2006) The figure above explains the cycle of automobile dependency. With the rise in population the settlement pattern changes with more suburbanization and degraded cities. This raises the automobile land use planning which supports and definitely has generous parking supply. All these criteria thus supports the dispersed development 12 P age

19 patterns and increases the vehicle ownership as these places have less alternative for public transportation or even reduces travel options. There are many solutions to this kind of automobile ownership and reluctance to car use. Transit Oriented Developments (TOD) as a travel demand management tool offers one potential solution to re address dispersed development pattern and reluctant car use imbalance. (Giorgi, et al., 2002) Suburban Development and Urban Sprawl Suburban development started with the automobile dependency. The freedom to live away from congested city and in a spacious land with proper zoning leads to the suburban development. Looking back in history, the automobile dependence is regarded for the physical form of cities which is also shaped by transport technologies. Until the invention of the automobile, factory workers were forced to live close to the factory or a railroad that led to the factory so that they could get to work on time. With the automobile, they no longer needed to live so close. Communities began to show up that had few employment opportunities, instead of working in their home town, the residents would work a good distance away and make the commute every day, with the growth of suburban settlement (Scheurer, 2001). The term urban sprawl is generally used with negative connotations. Because people in sprawling neighbourhoods tend to drive more than those who don t, urban sprawl is 13 P age

20 sometimes associated with increased air pollution. It has also been linked to obesity since walking or bicycling usually are not viable commuting options for those commuting from the outskirts of a city into town (Hill, 2010). The concern for the automobile dependency in the suburban cities is not just the major topic for planners in 21 st century for the design of cities but it was seen in the Ebenezer Howard s Garden City concept in According to Pirenne, 1996, Ebenezer Howard recognised the need for localised retail and business opportunities, as well as strong public and civic buildings that draw residents to their own area and reduce the need for commuting and private vehicle travel in his concept of Garden Cities. These concepts of accessibility and walkable cities have been further explored through the New Urbanism and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) movements. Rethinking about the development of the suburbs, the past trend shows that with the congestion in cities, the area grew outside the city centre expanding the area in the outskirts; the suburbs. This expansion was termed as urban sprawl as this sprawl was not just the residential but the other infrastructures like shopping centres, hospitals and schools also were developing. But the transportation alternatives were limited to the private vehicles. Urban sprawl itself is not a negative word in urban planning, but the negative consequences like automobile dependency makes it a topic for the planners to re think about the policies regarding transportation and suburban development. 14 P age

21 2.5 Key Issues of Car Dependency: Travel Pattern and Behaviour Due to the increase in population and congestion in cities, urban land release has been taking place on a massive scale in outskirts of cities. The land would be relatively cheap, due to its poor accessibility and a lack of services and facilities. Families moving into the area would have no choice but to rely on the car as there would be few public transport services and even basic facilities would be either dispersed or available only in distant centres. So the automobile or car dependency is due to the perceived need of the society. Reducing people s reliance on private cars means cleaner air, less use of fuel and reduced traffic noise. Improving public transport also means that people who do not have the use of private cars can move around more easily. Walking and cycling could be a good option for car oriented society (Sustainable Living, 2005). They reduce the need to build the major roads, service roads and even help dispose of cars with healthy community. But all of these things are directly related with the travel behaviour of the people which again is related with the reason for the car dependency. Waiting for a long time for the train, long distances of travel from the train station, lack of connecting transport system from train station to most part of the suburb and sticking to the time table of the train makes people think about the car ownership. Even if the roads are overcrowded people prefer private vehicles for the mode of transportation. For the 15 P age

22 people who can afford cars, its freedom to live anywhere around and a bit far away from city which in turn even affects the need to replan the existing land use. Active transport is a relatively new term to describe walking, cycling and the use of public transport as forms of transport that involve human physical activity with substantial benefits for health, safety and well being. Greater use of active transport would result in a vast reduction in transport pollution and improved health outcomes. This is especially achievable in Sydney where 55% of car trips are 5km or less (Department of Transport, 1995). This is a distance that can be comfortably covered by bicycle in fifteen minutes, with shorter distances easily walkable (Kuiper, 2006). Public transportation Most of the suburbs and outskirts have always suffered from poor access to public transport. As the urban sprawl is not always in the line of the railway stations and lines, the need of private vehicles becomes need to the people. The result is that urban expansion is pushing residential growth further and further away from the existing rail network, increasing dependence on private cars and buses. There are several disadvantages of the Public Transport System. Public transport is not under your control, the timings are never correct and sometimes do not suit you. Sometimes they do not stop at the designated stops and one has to keep waiting 16 P age

23 One has to plan well in advance if one has to use public transport, leading to wastage of time. Public transport is terribly crowded making it difficult for old people, pregnant, sick persons to travel You always have to expect delays Luggage Handling it would be a lot easier in your own car Lack of Privacy Train and bus tickets are rising 2.6 Car Dependency in Sydney The transportation system of Sydney is overloaded and it's a time consuming nightmare to get anywhere in the peak hours or the office hours. People waste countless hours of their time and billions of gallons of precious fuel sitting stuck in traffic on the roads and runways. Still people prefer private cars for transportation as there is not a strong public transportation system to serve most of the suburban Sydney areas. This issue of Sydney s sub urban car dependency is one of the pressing issues for urban planners. Travel Pattern North West residents spend on average 41 minutes driving per person per day, which is higher than the Sydney average of 37 minutes (WSROC, 2008). According to the summary report published by Transport Data Centre (TDC, 2009) Sydney residents made P age

24 million trips on an average weekday which is an increase of 2% than previous year basically due to the rise in population. The average number of trips per person has remained at around 3.8 trips per person per weekday whereas Sydney residents make slightly fewer trips on weekends, at about 3.4 trips per person (TDC, 2009, p. 3) One of the most significant aspects of the report is that in 2007, Sydney resident made 69% of their entire journey by private vehicle and number of vehicles in Sydney increased to about 2.4 million for the 4.2 million people. Fig: Proportion of trips and distance travelled by mode on an average weekday 2007 Source: TDC (2009, p. 10) Trips made by private mode of transport (69%), either as a driver or passenger, still dominates the overall trips made by the residents. In terms of public transport, buses have slightly bigger share compared to train travel. People who prefer walking (18%) are larger than people using trains and buses combined (11%). 18 P age

25 As per the report, in 2007 private vehicles continued to be the most used mode for all trip purposes. Private vehicle use was highest for serve passenger trips (89%) and for workrelated trips (86%). On a slightly better figure, private vehicle use was lowest (56%) and public transport use highest (26%) for educational trips, due to the availability of free school travel for qualifying students. Fig 6: Proportion of trips by purpose and mode on an average day 2001 & 2007 (Source: TDC, 2009, p.10) As per the graph shown above, there has been a slight decline in trips carried out by private vehicle in 2007 compared to Compared to 2001, private vehicle usage in 2007 rose most for educational and child care trips (4 percentage points) and declined for commuting, social and recreational trips (both minus 4 percentage points). During this time, public transport usage grew for commute and work related business trips (TDC, 2009, p. 11) 19 P age

26 Reasons for using Public Transport and car in Sydney Reasons for Using Public Transport The report illustrates that about 47% of the people using public transport indicated that they were using it to avoid parking problems whereas about quarter (23%) were using public transport because they didn t have a car to drive. 12% of the respondent indicated that they do not hold a valid driving license. These reasons for using public transport pertain to constraints on private vehicle use, rather than a preference for public transport per se (TDC, 2009, p. 11).This particular data shows that significant proportion of the respondents are using public transport not as a choice but basically due to problems associated with cars. Unlike other developed cities like Singapore or Hong Kong, where majority of the people travel by public transport by choice, Sydney residents are using it to avoid the problems of driving a car and there lies, in my opinion, the root cause of the problem. Fig 7: Reasons for using public transport to travel to work Source: (TDC, 2009, p. 11) 20 P age

27 Reasons for Using Car As the report shows, most trips made to work (67%) were made by private vehicle either as a driver of the vehicle or as a car passenger. 44% of the private vehicles commuter indicated that they preferred the convenience of using a car. For other 12% of users, the vehicle and/or parking was provided and subsidized by the company, while others required the vehicle for work (14%) or other non work trips (10%). In response to public transport system, a quarter of the respondents said that services was indirect and proves to the fact that it takes about 7 minutes by a car to reach Canterbury from Summer Hill whereas it takes about 40 minutes by train. 18% of the people found it to be slower. Other responses said that public transport is inaccessible (14%) or is not available (13%) at home or at work, and smaller percentages reported timetabling (11%) and frequency (8%) as the main constraint against public transport use. (TDC, 2009, p. 12) Fig 8: Reasons for using car to travel to work 2007 Source: (TDC, 2009, p. 16) 21 P age

28 Trip Distance and Time of Day of Travel According to the report, Sydney residents travelled a total of million kilometers (all modes) on an average weekday in 2007, a slight increase from 2006 (0.4%) and well below the average annual rate of growth since 1999 (0.8%). Between 2006 and 2007, distance by private vehicle decreased and distance travelled on public transport increased, particularly for trains (9.2%) to 17.2 million kilometers per average weekday. Fig 9: Total distance travelled by mode on an average weekday (Source: TDC 2009, p. 18) From the survey, the report has identified three peak periods on weekdays: the morning peak hour around 8:30am, the first afternoon peak 3.30pm (school end time) and evening peak at 5.30pm. It was also around the peak periods when the growth in demand was concentrated. At 8:30 am in 2007, for example, there were 93,000 additional motorized trips underway compared to 2001 (TDC, 2009, p. 18). 22 P age

29 Fig 10: Number of people travelling by time of day on an average weekday (motorized modes only) 2007 (Source: TDC 2009, p. 18) Vehicles in Sydney From the data provided, it has been noted that since 1999, the number of private motor vehicles registered to household in Sydney has risen each year by an average annual growth of 2.1% to 2.39 million vehicles in 2007 which shows how much Sydney relies on car travel. In terms of the distribution of households by number of vehicles, the following figure shows that the proportion of households with two or more vehicles continued to rise, while the proportion of households with one or none continued to fall. In recent years, the average number of vehicles per household has remained relatively constant at approximately 1.5 vehicles per household. Household size has also remained constant (2.7 people per household) (TDC, 2009, p.20). 23 P age

30 Fig 11: Proportion of households by number of household vehicles (Source: TDC 2009, p.20) In terms of vehicle occupancy non work trips have higher vehicle occupancy rate than work trips. Non work trips, such as social, recreational and shopping trips, are often shared by several members of a household (TDC, 2009, p. 21) Fig 12: Average vehicle occupancy per trip (Source: TDC 2009, p. 21) 24 P age

31 The travel pattern of Sydney residents based on the 2007 Household Travel Survey (TDC, 2009) is summarised in the following paragraphs: Sydney residents made 16.3 million trip on an average weekday, an increase of 2.0% in the previous year Commuting to and from work accounts for over 27% of the kilometers travelled by Sydney residents, though it represents less than 16% of all trips Sydney residents made 69% of all their journeys by private vehicle in 2007, a slight reduction from 70% of all travel recorded up until 2005 Sydney residents travelled 75.2 million vehicle kilometers on an average weekday in 2007, a reduction from 75.8 million kilometers per weekday in the previous year, and even lower than the 75.9m VKT undertaken in 2002 The number of vehicles in Sydney increased to almost 2.4 million in 2007, a continuation of the high rate of growth in vehicles in conjunction with rising Gross State Product (GSP) since The number of vehicles owned by Sydney residents has consistently grown at almost twice the population and household growth rates since 1999 The average time a Sydney resident spends travelling per weekday has increased from 79 minutes in 1999 to 81 minutes in The work trip represents a large and growing component of this time, increasing from 31 to 34 minutes over the same period. 25 P age

32 2.7 Conclusion In many cities, traffic demand has become more than the capacity of the road network creating congestion, urban smog and more time for travel. Not everyone can use a public transport service for all of their trips. But getting an increased percentage of trips onto public transport has benefits for the whole community. Reducing our car dependency is a cornerstone of most modern planning objectives. Improved health, reduced stress and less wasted time are benefits that most people can get from reduced car dependency. With the increase in decentralization of employment there comes the car use and vice versa which in turn increases the congestion. With the increment in congestion there is the decrease in public transport supply and also the greater demand for the public transportation. This results to the increase in car population and car use. Reducing people s reliance on private cars means cleaner air, less use of fuel and reduced traffic noise. Improving public transport also means that people who do not have the use of private cars can move around more easily. Walking and cycling could be a good option for car oriented society. 26 P age

33 CHAPTER 3: POLICIES AND LEGISLATIVE CONTEXTS 3.1 Introduction This section reviews the transportation policies in different cities around the world and also the Australian government policies and framework related to reduction of car dependency and effective use of public transport system at National, State and Local Government level respectively. An overall conclusion from the policies related to the research question is drawn at the end of the review. 3.2 Transportation Policies in Different cities According to Edwards & Smith, 2008, as the world s cities have become home to the vast majority of their national population, governments are faced with the challenge of providing transport infrastructure to accommodate the needs of their citizens. They even point the fact that in many of the world s largest cities, the majority of travel is by private car, which poses two problems road congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. Every city has set of targets to reduce car dependency, congestion on road and better public transportation options with better transportation policies and management. Litman (2010), in his report for vehicle travel reduction targets, raises the question that should transportation policies include mobility management objectives, such as targets to reduce vehicle miles of travel (VMT) and encourage use of alternative modes (walking, cycling, public transit, etc.)? Further in his report he gives an example of the proposed 27 P age

34 Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 includes goals to reduce national per capita motor vehicle miles travelled on an annual basis and increase the total usage of public transportation, intercity passenger rail services, and non motorised transportation on an annual basis. Looking into Paris transportation system, the noticable and remarkabe fact is that the high population density of central Paris is the effect of the streets being filled with parked cars. The shortage of parking encourages residents to use public transport or walk for short trips, rather than risk losing a parking space, and cars are mainly used for less frequent trips to suburban shopping centres, or at weekends for leaving the city. The shortage of parking also discourages commuters from using their cars to travel to work, and most commuting into Paris from the Ile de France is by public transport (Edwards & Smith, 2008). According to Edwards & Smith 2008, the most detailed level of transport plans are the 34 local plans have which have been drawn up for the Ile De France. The largest of these local plans covers the city of Paris in its entirety. The Paris transport plan sets out the objectives for the city of Paris up to The plan includes some specific targets: To increase the proportion of daily journeys by walking/cycling/public transport to 83% of all daily journeys within the city of Paris by 2020 (75% in 2001); To increase the number of daily journeys by public transport from a base of 9.6 million in 2001 to 11.5 million in 2013 (+20%) and 12.4 million by 2020 (+30%); 28 P age

35 To reduce traffic within the city of Paris by 26% by 2013 and 40% by 2020 compared to 2001 levels. Northern Europe, have make concerted efforts to reduce automobile dependency by increasing transport choices and reducing automobile subsidies such as free parking. The initial evidence is that these efforts can provide a variety of economic, social and environmental benefits. There is no evidence that such policies are economically harmful. (Litman & Laube, 2002) San Francisco stands as another example for critical and controversial issues for transportation problems with the headline news about congestion, public transportation and parking issues almost every day. Traffic congestion, unreliable transit, shortage of parking and unsafe streets is all concerns of San Francisco residents, workers and visitors. As a solution for the transportation problems, San Francisco Countywide Transportation Plan was set in According to the San Francisco Countywide transportation plan2002, four major components were developed to classify specific transportation improvement actions into groups of similar projects. Those components were (SFCTA, 2000): Maintain and Sustain Existing System : This component included the actions necessary to keep the existing transportation system operating, including replacing and renovating Muni vehicles and physical infrastructure, rehabilitating regional transit systems, maintaining San Francisco's Para transit Program, and resurfacing streets. This component also included Street Light Rail Project and funding for bike and pedestrian improvements. 29 P age

36 Priority San Francisco Enhancements: This component consisted of the New Central Subway, increased Muni service and planning for rail transit, transit preferential streets, and bicycle corridors. Regional and San Francisco Expansion: This component included Muni rail extensions within the City and major improvement projects to the regional transportation network. Market Based and Innovative Actions: This component included supercorridors, car replacement programs and a new approach to raising transportation revenues. 3.3 Australian National Transport Policy Framework The National Transport Policy Framework is in draft stage and was published by National Transport Commission (NTC) in The policy talks about a new beginning for transport in Australia. The Volume 1 of the policy talks about different challenges faced by transport in Australia and suggests a work plan through strategic priorities. It also outlines the policy framework and governance issues. The policy has outlined the following priority areas (National Transport Commission, 2008a): 1. Economic framework for Efficient Transport Market Place 2. Infrastructure Planning and Investment 3. Capacity constraints and supply chain performance 4. Urban congestion 5. Environment and energy 6. Safety and security 30 Page

37 7. Strategic research and technology 8. Work force planning and skills 9. Social inclusion and governance The policy addresses the issues of car dependency and public transport under the Urban congestion priority area and highlights some of the possible actions to the problem. The possible actions to the problems have been divided into short term and long term solutions. Some of the important actions have been summarized below: Develop national service standards for public transport co ordinated with land use planning and population forecasts Develop a national action plan for transport Review existing taxes and subsidies such as fringe benefit tax concessions for car owners with more annual km Commonwealth funding for improved mobility Sustainable public transport initiatives. The volume 2 of the framework (National Transport Commission, 2008b) summaries the key issues rose during the consultation with support analysis and firm recommendations. With regards to car dependency and improving public transport system, the framework identifies the problems associated with the urban congestion in Australia. The recommendations to decrease the urban congestion have been summarised in the following paragraph. 31 P age

38 In terms of reduction of car dependency and sustainable mode of transport, the framework talks about making public transport system attractive and thus reducing the urban congestion by making people to leave their car at home by choice. It also talks about removing any taxes that gives subsidy to private vehicle drivers which would force them to use public transport. The framework suggests the use of intelligent transport systems with real time travel and service arrival times. Also, the report advocates the use of enhanced bus systems including features such as bus lanes and bus systems adopting the modified routes according to travel demand changes. The framework also suggests the commonwealth government investment on integrated public transport systems. 3.4 NSW State Transport Policy framework The State Plan of NSW (2010) mentions that transport underpins our access to jobs, services and facilities and has a major impact on our quality of life. The plan talks about integrating the urban planning of cities in NSW and the transport system to improve the quality of life boost the economy and face the challenges of the future. In relation to the reduction of private vehicle ownership and car dependency and increasing ridership in the public transport, the state plan recommends following policies: a. The state will invest in projects that will improve the transport network s capacity, efficiency and reliability including a new fare structure, cycling paths, new buses and Sydney s North West railway line. b. Reliable public transport to improve travel time. c. Increasing walking and cycling. 32 P age

39 d. Increasing jobs closer to home to reduce journey to work travel times e. Development of regional transport strategies for regional NSW. f. Integrating the delivery of transport and urban development to enhance quality of life by making it easier for people to travel from home to work and to access the services they need. 3.5 Sydney Metropolitan Transport Strategy The Sydney Metropolitan Transport Strategy responds to community concerns about better public transport. The Metropolitan Strategy recognises that people need access to activities in different locations and at different scales within their local neighborhood, in centers and corridors within their region, and to activities and places across the metropolitan area, as follows: At the neighbourhood level, the Strategy envisages improved local transport such as walking and cycling facilities and bus services that link neighbourhoods, villages and town centres to major centres. Good local accessibility allows people to undertake more of their trips closer to home, reducing the time taken and cost of longer trips. Most travel is undertaken within the subregion or part of the city where people live. At this level, the Strategy provides a network of strategic bus corridors with fast, frequent and direct bus services connecting centres across the city. The network will connect people to Sydney's strategic centres. At the metropolitan scale, the focus is on the longer cross city and inter regional connections, which link the suburbs to Sydney city, Port Botany and Sydney 33 P age

40 Airport, and link Sydney to the regions such as the Lower Hunter, the Illawarra and the rest of NSW and interstate (NSW Government, 2005). West Central Sub Region Transport Policy: The Sydney City subregion is based on the boundaries of the City of Sydney local government area. This subregion occupies a central and strategic part of the Greater Metropolitan Region. In this strategy report, the Sydney city was divided into 10 different sub regions namely East Sub region, South Subregion, Inner West Subregion, Inner North Subregion, North Subregion, North East Subregion, West Central Subregion, North West Subregion, South West Subregion and Central Coast. The Subregional strategies would remain a key planning tool for councils to implement the metropolitan strategy. My study area falls under West Central Sub region. According to this sub regional strategy NSW 2007, on an average weekday, the residents of the West Central sub region make nearly 2.3 million trips, at a rate of 3.5 trips per day per person. This is the lowest trip rate of any sub region, the Sydney average of 3.8 trips per person a day. About 65 percent of these trips start and finish within the West Central Sub region. On an average weekday, 72 percent of trips by West Central residents are made by private vehicle, 11 percent by public transport and 16 percent by walking or cycling which shows that there is very low ridership on public transport. With these issues in mind, the sub region has put forward the following key directions: 34 P age

41 Implement the North West CBD South West Rail Link and the network of Strategic Bus Corridors Construct the intermodal terminal at Enfield. Develop and construct the Southern Sydney Freight Line Plan and construct an extension to the M4 Motorway Following actions have been prescribed for the transport strategy: Improve transport between Sydney s centre Improve the existing transport system Influence travel choices to encourage more sustainable travel Improve transport decision making, evaluation and funding Improve efficiency of all types of freight movements in Sydney Connect the regions and economic gateways within the greater metropolitan region Minimise the adverse impacts from freight movement 3.6 Sustainable Transport Policies: A sustainable transport and access system will simultaneously address economic, social and environmental issues. It will pursue enhancement of a city s economic performance, its social equilibrium and justice and the state of the urban and natural environment. (PIA, 2003) 35 P age

42 According to Definition and Vision of Sustainable Transportation, 2002, a sustainable transportation system is one that: Allows the basic access needs of individuals and societies to be met safely and in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem health, and with equity within and between generations. Is affordable, operates efficiently, offers choice of transport mode, and supports vibrant economy. Limits emissions and waste within the planet s ability to absorb them, minimizes consumption of non renewable resources, limits consumption of renewable resources to the sustainable yield level, reuses and recycles its components, and minimises the use of land and the production of noise. The Sustainable Transport Policy guides the councils and other transport department and authorities to act on strategic, statutory, operational and service activities relating to transport and travel within the city or town. Each city around the world has set up their own sustainable transport policies for the better solution to the car dependence society, congestion and pollution. In the report for Sustainable cities 2005, the Sustainable transport logistics are considered vital to reversing the problems caused by automobile dependence and to building cities which are equitable, accessible and economically viable. Some of the major sustainable transportation policies around the world that changed the entire transportation system are as follows: 36 P age

43 In 1985, the Transport Branch of the Government of Hong Kong presented a fullblown marginal cost pricing scheme, known as electronic road pricing. It was not approved at first but later this system acted as one of the solution for traffic congestion (Borins, 1988) The city of Bergen was the road pricing initiator in Norway, launching a cordon pricing scheme in January Oslo implemented a toll ring in 1990 and Trondheim in 1991, while several other cities have discussed road pricing The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, MARTA in Atlanta, and Metro in the Washington, D.C. areas were opened in the 1970s. They were built primarily to relieve congestion, funding was provided entirely by the public sector, and little or no additional land was purchased by the transit agencies to ensure that there would be any link between current transit investments and future development patterns The City of Stonington Council Victoria, has initiated the policies to reduce car dependence and to minimise associated impacts by working towards having more people in the municipality choose to walk, cycle and use public transport more often and drive cars less, particularly for short and local trips, through increasing local shopping, employment, education, recreation and other travel destinations accessed daily by people of all abilities and economic means The report Sustainable Sydney 2030 prepared by City of Sydney 2008,has a vision of connected city Connected physically by walking, cycling and high quality public transport, connected virtually by world class telecommunications, connected to communities through a sense of belonging and social well being, and connected to other spheres of government and to those with an interest in the City. Create a 37 Page

44 comprehensive, high quality cycle network that is safe enough for children to use. Give priority to separated, dedicated cycle lanes 3.7 Conclusion Many cities are facing the transportation issues with car dependency and congestion problems. Every city has set of targets to reduce car dependency, congestion on road and better public transportation options with better transportation policies and management. Sydney has also many policies regarding the better transportation networking and sustainable cities. But the issue of car dependency is not directly responded. Even though the issues of car dependency can be solved with better public transportation and sustainable transport alternatives, car dependency itself should be dealt with much more detail analysis. Car dependency has been a major problem. But the solution cannot be assumed to be better transport alternatives. It also has an empirical impact with the behaviour and social aspect of the people. In some societies or groups, car is not just a medium for transportation but a social pride or status symbol. These kinds of issues are not dealt in any policy review for NSW or Sydney Metropolitan Strategies. As Wright & Egan 2000, discusses in their paper that not only could public transport be marketed as an alternative to the private car, but through targeted propaganda, the automobile could be demarketed as a status symbol and a convenient accessory of modern life. In contrast with other public information campaigns, de marketing would focus on people's self image rather than their sense of public duty. 38 P age

45 The Metropolitan strategies and the council strategies for the different LGA and suburbs should be more focused towards the car dependency issues. The Council strategies and policies should strive to improve pedestrian, cyclist and public transport connections, accessibility and permeability within and between activity centres and other parts of the municipality by providing direct and legible travel pathways and functional multi modal interchanges to enable people to reach their destinations with ease, efficiency and in comfort. 39 P age

46 CHAPTER 4: CASE STUDY FAIRFIELD CITY COUNCIL 4.1 Introduction For Sydney, urban sprawl is a major concern as the availability of transport and other infrastructure is not easily available from every places. The distance from major centres and services has become more and thus reductions of car dependency, better transport options and new urban design solutions have become the most important need in the community. Fairfield is located at the Western part of The Sydney CBD and has major problem of car dependency. This chapter looks into the complete scenario of what and why the car dependency issues are high in Fairfield City council. 4.2 Local Context Fairfield City is located in Sydney's south western suburbs, about 32 kilometres from the Sydney GPO. Fairfield City is bounded by Blacktown, Holroyd and Parramatta Cities in the north, Bankstown City in the east, Liverpool City in the south, and Penrith City in the west. Fairfield is connected by rail to the Sydney Central Business District, Parramatta and major retail centres further to the South West. The Cumberland rail line service runs between Campbelltown and Blacktown. The South rail line, the Macarthur service runs to the City via Granville. Major roads leading to Fairfield: Western Motorway (M4); The Hume Highway; The Cumberland Highway; 40 P age

47 The Western Sydney Orbital ; South Western Motorway (M5); Railway line and bus services. Fig 13: Site plan Fairfield Source: litemaps.nsw.gov.au The transportation mediums in Fairfield city councils area as follows: City rail Buses West Buses Transit Ways Fig 14: Rail Routes in Fairfield Area Manufacturing has been the biggest employer in Fairfield LGA followed by retail which justifies to the fact that the area has two big industrial estates within the boundary. the workforce participation rate also dropped from 61.3% in 1991 to 52.7% in 2001 suggesting a higher proportion of residents are dependent on other forms of income support the percentage of people going out of Fairfield area to work are much higher 41 P age

48 The figure below shows the percentage of people going out of Fairfield area to work. Fig: 15: Employment location of Fairfield City s residents, (Source: NSW 2006) Fig: 16: Employment location residents, (Source: NSW 2006) 4.3 The Problem Fairfield area is one of the worst examples of higher car dependency. Analysis of the car ownership of the households in Fairfield City in 2006 (Fig 21 and 23) compared with the Sydney Statistical Division shows that 78.8% of the households owned at least one car, while 12.6% did not, compared with 78.1% and 12.6% respectively in the Sydney Statistical Division. Of those that owned at least one vehicle, there was a smaller proportion who owned just one car; a similar proportion who owned two cars; and a larger proportion who owned three cars or more. Overall, 34.6% of the households owned one car; 29.5% owned two cars; and 14.7% owned three cars or more, compared with 36.4%; 30.2% and 11.5% respectively for the Sydney Statistical Division (Faifield City Council, 2006). 42 P age

49 The results of the 2001 Household travel survey, conducted for the Fairfield LGA, indicate that the challenge of increasing public transport mode share will be considerable. The survey found that There were 13% of households with three (3) or more vehicles compared to the Sydney average of 10.7% 67.6% of the labour force travelled completely by car to work compared to 57.6% for the Sydney average Travel to work time by car (AM peak) is similar to the Sydney average of 28.7 minutes 57.7 minutes travel time by public transport to work (AM peak) is almost double the 34.2 minutes for the rest of Sydney by same mode and double the 30.9 minutes on average (AM) taken by car for Fairfield (FCC, 2008) Fig 17: Percentage of people using different modes of travel in Fairfield (Source: TDC 2007) The people of Fairfield city face transport disadvantage even though they have lots of options of major roads. The main problem with Fairfield and surroundings areas is that, these areas are hampered by inadequate arterial road systems which result in traffic 43 Page

50 intrusion into existing residential areas, coupled with grossly deficient public transport provision. The other major problem is that the public transport services have not been increased as a result of high car ownership and car ownership has not decreased because public transport has not been improved. This causes car dependence because there are no affordable or available public transport options. Sydney needs transport options that are affordable and available. The major problems for poor transportation in Fairfield city are as follows: Car Oriented community with a low use of public transport Public transport is perceived as dangerous within the community Underutilized transport nodes Entrenched car dependency Due to low density, dominance of residential land use and often poor public transport access and availability. Fig 18: Journey to work by different transportation modes (Fairfield Council) 44 P age

51 People without private transport, especially where public transport is not readily available are likely to be disadvantaged. In particular older people, young people and members of a car owning household who cannot use the car, are more likely to have problems and/or longer travel times to services and jobs. There is a need to increase the accessibility for all residents of the region to facilities, opportunities and services located both within and outside its boundaries. Upgrading of infrastructure is urgently required for commercial, private and public transport at an equitable cost to the established community and to ensure the adequate provision of services for new development. 4.4 Existing Plans and Policies The Fairfield city council promotes for an accessible City, which connects people, places and activities that has a wide choice of safe, affordable and convenient transport options within and beyond the City. Council has recently decided to promote cycling as a healthy alternative transport system. The Fairfield Bicycle Club will provide co ordinated activities for residents wanting to ride a bike. Bikes will be available for use for a small charge. Bicycles will be repaired at a new site at the Fairfield Showground. But still the numbers of people using bicycle is really low (Fig 56). The NSW greens have their policies for the Fairfield/Liverpool Local Government regarding transportation in Fairfield. For the better transportation and sustainable environment their policies have the following aspects: 45 P age

52 Promote expansion of local bus services Lobby for government bus services throughout Fairfield/Liverpool Promote a mini dial a bus service to link areas not served by current bus services Fair T way fares : lobby for Fairfield/Liverpool T way bus users to enjoy affordable transport options to connect with heavy rail commuting Lobby the State government for the upgrade of the City Rail network in the Fairfield/Liverpool LGA, and the restoration of services cut from the Cumberland and South lines Continue to consult with State and Federal Governments regarding steps to limit the community impact to be caused by the introduction of the dedicated Southern Sydney Freight Line The Sydney Metropolitan Sub region strategy for Fairfield LGA is West Central Sub region and it suggests the following actions for the transport strategy: Improve transport between Sydney s centre Improve the existing transport system Influence travel choices to encourage more sustainable travel Improve transport decision making, evaluation and funding Improve efficiency of all types of freight movements in Sydney Connect the regions and economic gateways within the greater metropolitan region Minimise the adverse impacts from freight movement 46 P age

53 4.5 Access and Movement: There is a perceived issue of vehicular traffic flows during peak times from and to the city, and pressure for priority parking spaces at the railway station. Parking near the railway station area was expressed as a community concern as there is fear in the community regarding the safety and security of the vehicle. This may be attributed to the population demographics and/or car dependency that have resulted in a deterioration of the pedestrian quality of the area. The Fairfield city area is a relaxed quiet town, where most needs can be met with the existing transport infrastructure. Existing infrastructure includes a small but viable bus service that reaches most parts of the town. But the major part of the Fairfield LGA is dependent on car. Travel Pattern Over many years urban land release has been taking place on a massive scale in Western Sydney. The land was relatively cheap, due in part to its poor accessibility and a lack of services and facilities. Families moving into the area had no choice but to rely on the car as there were few public transport services and even basic facilities were either dispersed or available only in distant centres (WSROC, 2008). The need for a second car (or a third) is now firmly entrenched in the minds of the population, with the result that high levels of car ownership are exacerbating income deprivation in many areas. To bring about any 47 P age

54 change will require a massive alteration to a lifestyle that has developed out of necessity. The figure below shows the exact the massive use of car in Fairfield area. Fig 19: Number of Vehicles in Fairfield Council area (Fairfield Council) Poor Public Transportation Western Sydney has always suffered from poor access to public transport which has had a long history of operational and patronage problems. The rail network in Western Sydney has not been significantly expanded since the 1930s when the region s population was less than a fifth of what it is today. The result is that urban expansion is pushing residential growth further and further away from the existing rail network, increasing dependence on private cars and buses (WSROC, 2008). The use of local buses as feeders to the higher capacity rail systems has been underdeveloped and, in many instances is no longer relevant to people s transport needs. Travel between outer suburbs is very difficult and results in high car dependence for cross suburban trips. 48 P age

55 Western Sydney s economy and the welfare of the community stand to lose if new approaches to deal with Sydney s transport problems are not adopted (WSROC, 2008). The State Government has initiated a number of transport reforms, including consolidation of private bus contract areas harmonization of private and public transport services, development of an integrated network of bus corridors and announcement of major new rail proposals, but these will require substantially increased funding and a high level of ongoing government commitment. Road Dominance As Western Sydney s population had grown dramatically the provision of hospitals, universities, social services and public transport infrastructure to support the families pouring in has been inconsistent, with backlogs in many areas. However, roads were provided much more consistently as the region s population increased. Over 120 kms of motorway have been constructed since the 1970s, much of it financed by the private sector and funded through tolls, while only 14 km of rail line has been provided. Although the construction of a motorway network was appropriate to support freight and commercial traffic, the failure to provide a complementary public transport network means that traffic on these motorways will reach capacity much more quickly and they will then play a much less effective role in supporting the regional economy (WSROC, 2008). 49 P age

56 4.6 Conclusion With the above study it is clear that Fairfield City needs proper policies and strategies regarding the issue of car dependency. But issue of car dependency depends on many factors and not just a problem created by lack of public transport alternatives. There are many factors that could respond to the issue and solved with advocated principles. Strengthening the connectivity between different parts of Fairfield and surrounding suburbs could facilitate reduced car dependency. The Fairfield area and the surrounding other suburban areas are increasingly diverse in race, ethnicity and income, and increasingly experiencing the travails of rapid growth. The multi culture society can be the strong aspect for the suburb to make it a viable centre for multiculturalism with its cultural displays and arts. Fig 20: (Left) Areas used by industries in Fairfield area and (Right) Connecting Bus services form the railway station of Fairfield Transport and access will also need to consider the vitality and viability of the proposed developments within Fairfield. Travel choices towards more sustainable travel should be considered along with other sustainable growth principles in order to encourage a greater 50 P age

57 use of active transport such as walking and cycling. The efficient pedestrian and vehicular transport linkages within the Fairfield region should be advocated with transport and infrastructure principles and strategies. 51 P age

58 CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 5.1 Introduction For all the problems regarding the transportation in Fairfield area and other western suburbs there has to be strong transport planning principles and process. The main strategic themes for making the Transport Strategy could be: reducing the need to travel; improving non car methods of travel; and ensuring the most efficient use of car parking spaces Promoting sustainable mode of travel behaviour 5.2 Principles and Strategies for Fairfield City Council This section outlines the existing conditions, issues and opportunities of Fairfield City council, to provide input into the formulation of principles and strategies for suburb. A holistic approach to urban planning will present significant place making opportunities to encourage a vibrant and viable place or suburb with less car dependent society and more sustainable environment. Integrated Approach The planning policies and strategies for this area should have an integrated approach made up of the interlocking strategies that relate to themes or diverse as land use, 52 P age

59 economic development, public realm, traffic and infrastructure. The plan should provide a seamlessly integrated vision that works as both a series of independent strategies and in a co ordinated means to deliver the wider vision, principles and objectives. Enhancing the role and function of the centre To reach its full potential, Fairfield City centre must position itself to accommodate the growth predicted in the near future. The city is uniquely positioned to become a major part of the regional centre that services and facilitates the growth driven by the industrial and retail sectors. The city already provides the high level of industrial and retail services. The plan should provide the framework necessary to proactively manage and capitalize on the rapid growth cementing the primacy of Fairfield over the growth centres of West central region. Enhancing Public realm Green streets make great and beautiful cities. People who appreciate the qualities of urban life recognize that it is the activities that take place within the public realm and determine its vitality. The Fairfield market should be promoted in such a way that it becomes one of the major attractions for the people. However further oppurtunities exist to create a spatial heart to the centre in the form of a civic space, a place that facilitates the interplay of local urban life and events. A place where people from all over the world reside, the most multi cultural society is the strong part of the society that can be the enhancing feature to the public realm. 53 P age

60 Public Transportation The Study Area of my research i.e. Fairfield city council is currently served by City rail West Buses and Transit Ways, which connects Fairfield city with other towns. But as the city is spread out, all the areas are not connected from the bus routes and people rely on cars rather than supporting the public transportation. Issues and Opportunities Bus frequencies need to be improved to meet any future increased demand by commuters. Improved transit bus circulation should be implemented to allow for an efficient movement of commuters to and from the town centre/city. In addition to public transit buses, there are issues related to the movement patterns and parking of cars. Principles Public transport should be easily accessible; located close to focal points and stops, and should serve people s travel patterns. Passenger waiting spaces should be separated from pedestrian spaces. Bus movements must be accommodated within the street network arrangement, which separates through and local traffic. 54 P age

61 Strategies Improving access by frequent rail and bus timing so that people need not wait long hours. Bus stops should be located at near intervals and should cover almost all parts of the area. The bus service for the weekends should have less fare and no fares or free for some weekends to promote the markets and art exhibitions in the area. Establishing public domain and public art strategy that are strongly local in character and appropriate to their physical and cultural context. 5.3 Approaching the solution for car dependency in Sydney Car dependency is not an outcome of one or two matters but it s a result of many things. The land use pattern, sub urban development, poor public transportation, car as social prestige, economic conditions of the area, habit of the people, health unconsciousness, are some of the factors that directly affect the car dependency. So the solution also depends on many things. Creating an interconnected and co ordinated transport system by integrating pedestrian and vehicular in with surrounding areas can be one approach. Some of the approaches for reducing car dependency could be: Providing a safe, sustainable, affordable, efficient and equitable transport system at Fairfield city as well as the adjoining suburbs that improves access to employment, education, health, recreation and other services and facilities whilst significantly reducing car dependency. 55 P age

62 Supporting the role of major employment, commercial and service centres within each council, particularly through the provision of public transport infrastructure and services, to increase employment and economic development and to reduce the need to travel. Providing public transport infrastructure for those who still need to leave in suburban areas like Fairfield area and surrounding areas to access employment and other opportunities. Improving accessibility for people with special needs and reducing social isolation. 5.4 Strategic alternatives and planning/policy Initiatives Even though the transportation policies are supporting better public transportation and services, these do not directly address the car dependency issues. For reducing car dependency there should be policy initiatives and strategic alternatives directly addressing the car dependency issues. Some of these strategic alternatives and policy initiatives could be: Strategic Alternatives: Provision of additional strategic bus corridors and cross regional bus services. 56 P age

63 Provision of a public transport corridor on the motor ways. This should be integrated with the bus transit ways and provide direct connection to the employment centres. Provision of commuter car parking and bicycle stands at major transport nodes. Arterial Roads should be improved Providing strategic improvements to the road network, especially to support freight movement Planning initiatives The population growth has been a major issue with the need of transportation and infrastructure services. These growth issues also include the need to diversify land uses to build more solid revenue bases, the need to create urban centres, and the growing problem of traffic congestion along overtaxed suburban arterials, compounded by the many cul de sac neighbourhoods. The other initiative can be retrofitting existing neighbourhoods and creating new ones to give residents more options in terms of the type of housing they buy, the mode of transportation they use, and the places they shop. Transit oriented development (TOD) intense, comprehensive development around transit stations (Belzer & Autler, 2002) could drag the attention as a logical place to start. Greater legitimating of the role of the bicycle as an urban transport vehicle. Education and communications programs should be implemented to promote 57 P age

64 cycling as a useful and viable alternative mode to car journeys, particularly under 10km. Many councils have recently decided to promote cycling as a healthy alternative transport system. If this programme is successful, most of the transport related problems would be solved. There should be promotions to encourage people for cycling. Policy Initiatives Instead of building more motorways we can quickly attract people to public transport in Western Sydney by extending transport concessions and introducing a smart card as in Hong Kong. Raise the profile of 'smart' transport systems such as car sharing and car pooling. Charging for car parking spaces Traffic models with electronic road pricing (as in Singapore) for private cars (exempting commercial vehicles and taxis) that can reduce peak period traffic. Flexibility within bank lending criteria for higher home loan approvals where the borrower is prepared to sacrifice the need for a second car in exchange for closer proximity to public transport. (Gilbert & Ginn, 2001) 58 P age

65 5.4 Conclusion For the solution to the car dependency one has to understand the reasons that are creating the problem. First of all, the reason for people to drive cars has to be understood and then only solution can be approached. Educating people for healthy environment is one of the best solutions with less monetary funding and great results. The negative effects of the car dependency should be taught as an essential course to the high school and university students so that these people can then in turn educate the whole society about the impacts. Creating an interconnected and co ordinated transport system by integrating pedestrian and vehicular in with surrounding areas can be one of the sustainable solutions for car dependency. 59 P age

66 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION There are lots of problem regarding the transportation system as a whole in Sydney. Public transport in most parts of Sydney is woefully inadequate, traffic congestion abounds and the suburbs sit under a haze of air pollution. Bus services in many parts of Sydney need to be upgraded to ensure proper coverage. Buses get cancelled and trains run late and are overcrowded. There are several solutions for all of the traffic congestion, car dependency and poor public transportation services. One of the easiest and fastest solutions for these travel problems could be, instead of building more motorways we can educate people for healthy environment, which is one of the best solutions with less monetary funding and great results. The negative effects of the car dependency should be taught as an essential course to the high school and university students so that these people can then in turn educate the whole society about the impacts. One of the researches done by Riverside Expressway Transport Investigation and Network Analysis, Queensland Transport, shows that half of all car trips had the potential to be replaced by public transport, walking or cycling. This could occur without significant change to the existing transport system, as most patronage increases would occur outside the morning peak or act to extend the peak both earlier and later. Car drivers may choose to drive even when alternative modes of transport are available and convenient. This analysis simply shows that road pricing can bring about significant change to travel behaviours without leading to widespread disruption of lifestyle or the economy. 60 P age

67 Therefore, education and communications programs should be implemented to promote cycling as a useful and viable alternative mode to car journeys, particularly under 10km. The other alternative could be policy implementation for electronic road pricing. But this intrinsically involves two types of surveillance, the monitoring of a vehicle s movements and the photographing of license plates (the latter to ensure compliance). This needs a lot of investment. But on the other hand the road pricing policy would result in a greater reduction of congestion and therefore greater benefits to the community. Also, it would cost the government more and produce less revenue than continued licensing taxes. The other major aspect is that the Fairfield area and the surrounding other suburban areas are increasingly diverse in race, ethnicity and income, and increasingly experiencing the travails of rapid growth. These growth issues include the need to diversify land uses to build more solid revenue bases, the need to create urban centres, and the growing problem of traffic congestion along overtaxed suburban arterials, compounded by the many cul de sac neighbourhoods. Urban centres will provide employment and also less movement of people outside the area that can be a solution to the road congestion and car dependency. After this research I tried to solve my research question about the aspects of policy that need to be changed to reduce heavy car dependency in Sydney. I would like to recommend the following points: Provision of incentives to employees who chose public transportation Removal of tax benefits which are based on car usage 61 P age

68 Educating people about the healthy lifestyle which includes 30 minutes of walk each day Communicating with people giving them some knowledge about the effect of carbon emission and environmental pollution Promotion of walk to work culture in government and corporate offices. Tax benefits for employee choosing public/sustainable transport over car Increase in parking fees around the CBD areas. Car dependency has been a major problem. But the solution cannot be assumed to be better transport alternatives. It also has an empirical impact with the behaviour and social aspect of the people. In some societies or groups, car is not just a medium for transportation but a social pride or status symbol. These kinds of issues are not dealt in any policy review for NSW or Sydney Metropolitan Strategies. As Wright & Egan 2000, discusses in their paper that not only could public transport be marketed as an alternative to the private car, but through targeted propaganda, the automobile could be demarketed as a status symbol and a convenient accessory of modern life. In contrast with other public information campaigns, de marketing would focus on people's self image rather than their sense of public duty. 62 P age

69 REFERENCES (2005). Fairfi eld City Council State of the Environment Report Fairfield City Council. Belzer, D., & Autler, G. (2002). Transit Oriented Development: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality. The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and The Great American Station Foundation. Borins, S. F. (1988). Electronic Road Pricing: An Idea whose time may never come. Transportation, 22A(1), Burnley, H., Murphy, P. A., & Jenner, A. (1997). Selecting Suburbia:Residential Relocation to Outer Sydney. Urban Studies, 34(7), City of Sydney. (2008). Sustainable Sydney Sydney: City of Sydney. Commonwealth Government. (2005). Sustainable Cities. House of Representitives, Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage. Canberra: The Parliament of Commonwealth of Australia. Council, F. C. (2006, August 8). How many cars do we own? (Car ownership). Retrieved March 26, 2010, from Fairfield City: Community Profile: DOT. (1999). Moving South Africa: A Transport Strategy for Department of Transport. Edwards, T., & Smith, S. (2008). Transport Problems facing large cities. New South Wales Parliamentary Library. FCC. (2008). Ministry of Transport Review of Bus Contracts and Routes and services for Bus Contract Region 3. Fairfield City Council. Gilbert, D., & Ginn, S. (2001). Transit oriented Sustainable Developments. Built Environment Research Unit,Queensland Department of Public Works. Giorgi, L., Pearman, A., Tsamboulas, D., & Reynauld, C. (2002). Project and Policy Evaluation in Transport. Aldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate,. Giuliano, G., & Narayan, D. (2003). Another Look at Travel Patterns and Another Look at Travel Patterns and. Urban Studies, 40(11), Hill, A. (2010, April 23). What is urban sprawl. Retrieved May 17, 2010, from Wise Greek: 63 Page

70 Kuiper, G. (2006, February 22). Liveable cities and active transport. Centre For Policy Development. Litman, T. (2010). Are Vehicle Travel Reduction Targets Justified? Evaluating Mobility Management Policy Objectives Such As Targets. Victoria Transport Policy Institute. Litman, T., & Laube, F. (2002). Automobile Dependency and Economic Development. Institute for Science and Technology Policy, Murdoch University. National Transport Commission. (2008a). National Transport Policy Framework: A New Beginning Vol 1. TDC. National Transport Commission. (2008b). National Transport Policy Framework: A New Beginning Vol 2. NTC. Newman, P., & Kenworthy, J. (1999). Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence. Washington: Island Press. Newman, P., & Kenworthy, J. (1999). Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence. Island Press. Noor Mohd, K. B. (2008). Case Study: A Strategic Research Methodology. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 5(11), NSW. (2006). Journey to work, Australian Bureau of Statistics. NSW transport and Infrastructure. NSW. (2007, December). City of Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future. Retrieved June 1, 2010, from NSW Government's Transport Strategy: htpp:// NSW. (2007). West Central Subregion, Draft Subregional Strategy. City of Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future. NSW Governments Metropolitan Strategy. PIA. (2003). Submission to Sustainable Cities House of Representitives standing Comittee on Environment and Heritage. Planning Institute of Australia. Pirenne, H. (1996). City Origins & Cities of European Civilization. In R. T. Legates, & F. Stout, The City Reader. Routledge. Rode, P. (2009, May 24). City making as a Climate Policy. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from The Urban Vision, Inspiring Urban thinking: "Shaping Tomorrow": Rode, P. (2009). City Making as Climate Policy. London: Urban age programme. 64 P age

71 Scheurer, J. (2001). Automobile Dependence and Urban Form: Sustainability in the Work of Newman and Kenworthy. In J. Scheurer, Urban Ecology, Innovations in Housing Policy and the Future of Cities: Towards Sustainability in Neighbourhood Communities. Fremantle. SFCTA. (2000). San Francisco Countywide Transportation Plan. San Francisco. Stonnington, C. (n.d.). Vision Statement, Policy Principles. Retrieved June 2, 2010, from City of Stonnington, Vic: TDC. (2009) Household Travel Survey. Transport Data Centre, NSW Transport and Infrastructure. Thorne, R., & Sankey, W. F. (2009). Transportation. In R. Thomas, & M. Fordham, Sustainable urban design: an environmental approach (2 ed., p. 31). Unknown. (2002, October). Definition and Vision of Sustainable Transportation. Centre for Sustainable Transportation. Mississauga, ON. Wilson, T., & Parr, A. (2008). New South Wales State and Regional Population Projections Department of Planning. Wright, C., & Egan, J. (2000). De Marketing the car. Transport Policy, 7, WSROC. (2008). Transport needs of Sydney's North West sector. Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils Ltd. WSROC. (2008, September). Transport Needs of Sydney's North west Sector. Retrieved March 25, 2010, from wsroc.com.au: est_ pdf 65 P age

72 APPENDICES 66 P age

73 Fig 22: LGA Profile by Bicycle Users 67 P age

74 Fig 23: LGA Profile by Car Users 68 P age

75 Fig 24: LGA Profile by Car and Train Users 69 P age

76 Fig 25: LGA Profile by Total Population 70 P age