FACED with frustrations from commuters and residents living near train stations, council is pushing the state government to plan long-term for park and ride facilities.
Cr Wendy Boglary said residents living near the Wellington Point station complained parked cars blocking driveways and preventing bins from being emptied.
She said zone changes meant city commuters could save $1000 a year by travelling from Wellington Point rather than Ormiston or Cleveland. This had resulted in increased use of Wellington Point station.
“If the state chooses to have fare zones and higher density, than supplying car parking has to be a priority,” Cr Boglary said.
Mayor Karen Williams said upgrades to park and rides would ease congestion in the city, especially as there were no major public transport or state road upgrades planned.
“Council will be asking the state government to do a full park and ride strategy through this month’s Local Government Association of Queensland conference so we can see the long-term plans rather than four-year election cycles,” Cr Williams said.
“Sharing this information with councils is critical to ensuring local plans align with state plans.”
The state government will add 2300 spaces at nine park and ride locations in south-east Queensland but none in the Redlands.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said it was not financially viable, sustainable or physically possible at some public transport stations to build new car parks or provide a park for every commuter.
“The Palaszczuk government committed $114 million to building or expanding park ‘n’ rides during the 2017 state election,” Mr Bailey said.
“That commitment will add 2300 new spaces at nine locations to the 30,000 parks already provided for commuters at 159 park ‘n’ rides across the Translink train, bus, ferry and tram network.
“Beyond these locations, a number of other park ‘n’ ride upgrades are either in planning or under construction.”
Mr Bailey said facilities had been expanded at stations including Thorneside over the past two years.
A Translink spokesperson said there was high demand for park ‘n’ ride facilities and it was essential to prioritise investment where it would create the largest impact.
It was not always possible to acquire suitable land to expand existing park ‘n’ ride facilities.
The delivery of park ‘n’ rides involved extensive planning and feasibility studies and land acquisition if required.
The department prioritised park ‘n’ rides at sites which encouraged greater public transport use and where access to the station by modes other than private car was challenging or limited.
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