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Technical Note Abstract

Cities in both the developed and developing world
GENERATING SOLUTIONS FOR are struggling to make their urban transport more
SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT sustainable. After decades of growing car dominance,
– THE SYDNEY EXPERIENCE public transport, walking and cycling are making
a comeback. But building a more sustainable city
Dr. Garry Glazebrook means gaining political agreement on the best ways
forward, and on how these can be financed and
managed. Sydney has seen an interesting example
of community action in this area, with the Sydney
Morning Herald sponsoring an Independent Public
Inquiry into a Long Term Plan for Sydney’s Public
Transport. This non-government inquiry sought
to raise awareness of the options and potential
solutions, including alternative land use-transport
futures, integration of the city’s public transport
system, new funding regimes and new governance
arrangements which would re-write the balance
between the politicians and the managers of the
system. The experiment has demonstrated how
these issues need to be tackled for lasting reform
to occur and for the shift to more sustainable futures
to be successful.

INTRODUCTION
Sydney, as Australia’s largest city with a population
of 4.5 million faces similar challenges to other
large, car-oriented cities in transitioning to more
sustainable urban transport. Despite the addition of
110 km of new motorways in the last two decades,
Sydney remains Australia’s road congestion capital.
While Sydney still has the most heavily used public
transport system in the country, and the lowest
levels of car dependence, its public transport system
has under-performed in the last decade, and it is
lagging other Australian cities in the use of cycling
as well.
As shown in Table 1, there is a very substantial list
of public transport-related projects for Sydney,
particularly rail projects, which have been
announced and subsequently cancelled (and in a

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Table 1
Key transport projects cancelled or delayed in Sydney
Originally Original Subsequent
Project announced completion date Fate developments
Integrated ticketing 1996 2000 Contract New process
Terminated 2008 restarted in 2008
CBD light rail line 1996 Extensive EIS Not proceeded with Re-announced
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and other studies February 2010

completed 1996-
2003
Bondi Beach rail 1996 2002 Cancelled 1999
link
Parramatta – 1998 2006 Cancelled Aug 2003
Epping rail link
Hurstville – 1998 2014 Not heard of for
Strathfield line years
Fast rail links to 1998 Construction to Not heard of for
Newcastle commence by 2010 years
Fast rail link to 1998 2010 Not heard of for
Wollongong years
Liverpool ‘Y’ link 1998 2010 Not heard of for
years
North West rail link 1998 2010 (to Castle Hill) Delayed several Re-announced
times, cancelled Feb 2010, but with
March 2008 construction starting
in 2017
SW rail link 2005 2017 Stage 2 deferred Stage 2
2008 re‑accelerated
November 2009
Next Harbour 2005 2017 Cancelled October Parts re-announced
crossing 2008 in Feb 2010
North – West Metro 2008 2017 Cancelled October
2008
CBD Metro October 2016 Indefinitely
2008 deferred February
2010
West Metro Mooted Not defined Indefinitely
2009 deferred February
2010

few cases re-announced), totalling over $33 billion. Even before the axing of the CBD Metro, there was
The most recent and spectacular example was the widespread cynicism by the public and key decision
decision by the State Government to cancel the makers in Sydney about how the city is ever to
$5.3 billion CBD Metro project in February 2010, move forward with a comprehensive, believable
which was to have been the beginning of a new and affordable transport plan. It is against that
metro rail network for the city. background that a unique experiment in civic

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action was initiated by the Sydney Morning Herald 5. Key environmental sustainability issues.
in August 2009 – the holding of an Independent
6. Key social and economic issues.
Public Inquiry into a Long Term Public Transport
Plan for Sydney. 7. Proposals for short term and long term funding.
8. The cost-effectiveness of solutions, taking into
THE INDEPENDENT PUBLIC INQUIRY account short term financial costs and benefits,
The poor state of Sydney’s transport planning and longer term environmental, congestion
was already evident in 2007, and led to a range and other external costs and land use and
of community responses. Several independent
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accessibility benefits.
alternative plans for Sydney emerged (FROGS 2007;
Glazebrook 2009). By August 2009, it was apparent Process adopted by the Inquiry
to many people, including the Sydney Morning The process adopted by the Inquiry was similar to
Herald editorial staff, that the NSW government that used by many Public Inquiries, with calls for
was struggling to develop and implement a sensible submissions from the public and from interested
and believable transport plan. The Herald had a long groups and organisations. A total of eight public
tradition, extending back before the introduction of meetings were also held across the Sydney
democracy in the State, of raising issues of public Metropolitan Area during September-October
concern. With the strong support of a former editor 2009, and three documents were put on the Inquiry’s
who just happened to have a particular interest in website to provide useful background information
transport and planning issues, the Herald agreed to for the public.2
hold an Independent Public Inquiry to develop a
Long Term Public Transport Plan for Sydney. However, the Inquiry also adopted some unusual
approaches. In particular, it was agreed that
Ron Christie, AM., a former co-ordinator-general specific market research should be conducted
of rail, head of the Olympic Roads and Transport into the public’s preferences for investment in
Authority, Director of the Roads and Traffic transport infrastructure and services as well as
Authority and Director of Public Works, agreed to their willingness to pay for such investments. This
Chair the Inquiry. The Inquiry was assisted by a research was conducted using choice modelling
range of individuals1, mostly on an unpaid basis, techniques, in order to avoid the limitations of
together with consultant assistance in market conventional market research. It was conducted
research, financing and other areas. The terms of for a total sample of 2400 residents of Sydney, by
reference for the Inquiry were as follows: the CENSOC group at the University of Technology,
1. The Independent Public Inquiry will create a Sydney.
Long Term Public Transport Plan for Sydney A second unusual approach was to use the results
after receiving public submissions. The plan is of the research on willingness to pay to provide a
designed to assist both the public and future limit on the level of improvement in public transport
governments to make informed decisions which would be included in the proposed long term
about priorities for transport investment. The plan. It was decided that any plan must not only
plan will cover the following topics: be desirable in terms of enhancing Sydney’s public
2. The optimisation and integration of existing transport system, but also affordable. Consequently
public transport operations (including ferry, it was agreed that the full costs of capital, additional
bus, light rail and heavy rail). services and interest for the plan needed to be
funded over 30 years within the community’s
3. The expansion of public transport services
willingness to pay, as determined by the market
and infrastructure, as well as cycle commuting
research. This placed important limits on what could
infrastructure, over a 30-year planning
be proposed in the plan by way of improvements.
horizon, taking into account existing transport
accessibility problems and integration with A third aspect was also somewhat unusual in
future land use changes. the context of previous attempts by the NSW
Government. Instead of proposing a single plan,
4. The most appropriate governance arrangements
it was decided to develop a number of alternative
to guarantee the plan’s longevity to remove the
land use – transport scenarios for Sydney, and to
negative impact of single-term party politics
include these in the Inquiry’s Preliminary report.
and to optimise investments.

1 For full list see Preliminary Report at www.transportpublicinquiry. 2 These were Christie (2001), NSW Department of Planning
com.au (2005) and Glazebrook (2009).

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Although such approaches have been adopted in of public submissions and hearings, the Inquiry’s
some other States as part of their metropolitan own research into experience elsewhere, and the
planning exercises, this approach is not common need to address short term improvements, long
in NSW where only one potential option is ever term enhancement and funding.
put forward for subsequent consultation/comment.
Another intriguing aspect of the Inquiry is that it
Finally, it was recognised early on, when the paralleled the Government’s own development
Inquiry’s terms of reference were being framed, that of a ‘Transport Blueprint’, undertaken by the
a physical plan, even with appropriate funding, was relevant departments and with the support of an
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not likely to succeed without major changes to the independent ‘Reference Panel’. The Government,
way in which urban transport is governed in NSW. too, requested submissions from the public and
Thus the Inquiry spent roughly equal amounts of interested organisations for its ‘Blueprint’ exercise.
effort in four key areas: Suddenly Sydneysiders had a range of options
for expressing their views on Sydney’s transport
•• Governance
problems and how best to fix them.
•• Funding
•• Developing a Long Term Plan The Public Inquiry’s 450 page Preliminary Report
•• Short term and ongoing enhancements to the was released on 5 February 2010. Among its other
public transport system recommendations were delays to the CBD and other
metros, acceleration of the NW rail link and other
The initial round of public consultation elicited heavy and light rail projects, and major changes to
almost 500 submissions, mostly from individuals governance and funding arrangements. These will
but also from a range of local governments, regional be examined in more detail below.
organisations of councils, professional associations,
community groups, unions and other organisations. Two weeks later, a modified ‘blueprint’, relabelled
As expected there was almost no input from the State as the Metropolitan Transport Plan (NSW
Government – a two page letter – but a more serious Government 2010), finally emerged. This was a
submission was received from the State Opposition. 44 page document, reputedly a ‘cut down’ version
In addition to the submissions the Inquiry held a of a much more substantial document which had
number of hearings with individuals and groups to failed to gain Treasury endorsement. Key features
further explore their ideas or proposals for reform. of the Plan included indefinite deferment of the
CBD and other metros, re-instatement of the NW
Figure 1 shows diagrammatically the logic behind the rail link, and inclusion of two light rail projects.
Inquiry’s approach. In practice all streams of work
were closely integrated – for example the market Details of the Inquiry’s recommendations
research informed the financial analysis which in The Inquiry subsequently released its 528 page
turn limited the options included in the long term Final Report on 26 May 2010, following additional
plan, while the analysis of governance took account submissions and discussions on its Preliminary

Figure 1
The Inquiry process

Source: Christie (2010) p 57.

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Report. Key findings and recommendations are period from within the limits of what the community
outlined below: indicated it was willing to pay.
To measure this, an extensive market research
Governance
exercise was undertaken, across a sample of 2400
After reviewing the history of public transport people, to identify what combinations of revenue
governance in Sydney and reviewing arrangements sources people were prepared to accept in relation
in cities such as Perth, London, Singapore, Vancouver to different combinations of upgrades to public
and Zurich, a number of key principles were transport and/or roads. The market research
established as desirable for any new governance
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results were similar to earlier work undertaken by

model (Chapter 2): the Warren Centre (2002) which found stronger
•• integration across modes and with land use support for funding public transport than for
•• the need for more autonomy and authority motorways. For example the research found that
62% of the public favoured the combination of high
•• engagement with both Federal and Local
investment in public transport (coupled with the
Government
necessary fare increases, taxes and charges) whereas
•• commitment to consultation
only 21% favoured the high investment in roads
•• the development of long term plans based on (again coupled with the necessary revenue raising
objective assessments measures) and 17% favoured the low investment in
•• appropriate and secure resourcing either (with no new taxes, fare increases or charges).
•• strong accountability and transparency The pattern of support was remarkably similar
mechanisms. across gender, age and income groups, and for both
Three broad options for new governance public transport users and car drivers, indicating a
arrangements were identified: reform of the current broad community willingness to fix Sydney’s public
system; creation of a new tier of government at transport system and to pay for it (Figure 2).
the metropolitan level (as has been called for However people’s willingness to accept fare
by the Planning Institute amongst others); and increases, additional parking charges / congestion
establishing an Independent Public Transport Co- charges, household levies and carbon taxes on
ordination Authority. petrol was not unlimited. The research was able
After considering the relative merits of each and the to be used to estimate just how much people were
likelihood of achieving political support, the Inquiry prepared to pay. When combined with analysis of
recommended the latter approach, proposing the additional operating costs and the financing costs
establishment of a new organisation, labelled required to mount a major investment program in
‘Transport for Sydney’ for convenience. public transport infrastructure, it was found that
an additional $36 billion in new capital works was
The inquiry also proposes that Transport for Sydney achievable over the next 30 years. This in turn was
develop a long term (at least 30 years) plan. The used to help select priorities among competing
plan would be updated every four years, enabling projects, since not all desired projects could be
political debate around the plan’s priorities and afforded within that timeframe.
approaches. However Transport for Sydney
would retain significant independence from day- Overall, the analysis concluded strongly that a
to-day political interference in both planning and major program of enhancement to Sydney’s public
operations. Guaranteed long term funding would transport system was affordable without posing a
be put in place (see below) to avoid the stop-go burden on future generations, but that there was
process seen in NSW in the last decade, which has a limit (in the order of $36 billion) on additional
prevented implementation of an agreed long term capital spending.
infrastructure plan and which is now undermining
private sector investment in the city. Long term infrastructure plan
In developing its long-term infrastructure plan
Funding (Chapter 2), the Inquiry examined broad transport
As noted earlier, the Inquiry included a detailed ‘futures’ for Sydney, recommending a combination
analysis of funding needs and funding options for of travel demand management and mode shift from
achieving a much improved public transport system cars to walking, cycling and public transport. In
in the city. (Chapter 6). A key element in the analysis specific terms, it was concluded that a 10% reduction
included a commitment to fully fund all capital, in per capita kilometres of travel, coupled with a
operating and financing costs over a thirty year doubling of the public transport task and tripling

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Figure 2
Support for alternative
future transport scenarios
for Sydney by household
income

of walking/cycling would enable car-kilometres in and Macquarie and development of potential

Sydney to be stabilised, notwithstanding the 40% future peak hour train plans for the rail network.
population growth. The Inquiry identified three By contrast exercises such as that by Alford and
alternative scenarios for Sydney’s future growth, Whiteman (2009) for Melbourne focused on
each with different population and employment examining a wider range of land use options, but
distributions as well as transport infrastructure did not delve into the specifics of transport modes
elements, key features of which are summarised and operations. However, in the case of Sydney, the
in Table 2. Inquiry felt that a high level of detail on transport
infrastructure and services is necessary given the
The ‘US’ scenario was not developed further given
complexity of Sydney’s rail system and the capacity
the low level of support for road-oriented futures
limits on particular lines.
in the market research, and the trends to urban
consolidation observed in Sydney over the last few After considering the relative merits of the
decades (NSW Department of Planning 2010) and ‘European’ and ‘East Asian’ scenarios, the Inquiry
now apparent across Australia as well as the United formed the view that the ‘European’ option was
States and Canada. For example Filion et al. (2010) preferable overall, based on an analysis of social,
analyse the shifts occurring in density in Canada’s environmental and economic considerations.
four largest metropolitan areas since 1971.
Short term enhancements
However, the future networks for the ‘European’ and
‘East Asian’ scenarios were developed in some detail. The Inquiry also examined what can be done in the
This included specifying particular infrastructure shorter term to improve Sydney’s public transport,
enhancements, analysis of capacity requirements to including integration of fares, improvements in
the key centres of the CBD, Parramatta-Westmead frequencies (both peak and off-peak), more cross-

Table 2
Alternative long term scenarios for Sydney
Scenario ‘US’ ‘European’ ‘East Asian’
Population (2040) 6 million 6 million 6 million
% of Future Growth in:
‘Greenfield areas’ 40% 28% 22%
‘Established Areas’ 60% 72% 78%
Jobs Focus Dispersed Multi-centred CBD
Transport focus Motorways Heavy rail, Light rail, Metros
Metro, Bus

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regional bus services, extension of the light rail REFERENCES
system, better passenger information and the like Alford, G & Whiteman, J 2009, Macro-Urban Form, Transport
(see Chapters 4 and 5). Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: An Investigation for
Melbourne, Victorian Department of Transport, Transport
There is clearly scope for major enhancements in Policy Analysis and Research Unit.
many areas at relatively modest cost. For example,
the extension of light rail into the CBD and into the Christie, R 2001, Long Term Strategic Plan for Rail – Overview
Report, prepared for the NSW Government, June 2001,
inner western suburbs coupled with re-arranging
viewed 7 February 2011, <http://www.aptnsw.org.au/
bus routes through the CBD could enhance capacity, christie/index.html>.
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amenity and efficiency and allow additional services

on non-radial routes. These recommendations are Filion, P, Bunting, T, Pavlic, D & Langlois, P 2010,
‘Intensification and sprawl: Residential density trajectories
now being taken up by the Government and the
in Canada’s largest metropolitan regions’. Urban Geography,
City of Sydney. Proper integration of fares is a key vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 541-569.
component of this and was examined in some detail
in Chapter 4 of the Report. FROGS 2007, Updated Sydney Integrated Transport Strategy
(SITS2), 1000 Friends of Greater Sydney, viewed 8 April,
<2010 FROGS 2007, Updated Sydney Integrated Transport
POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS Strategy (SITS2), 1000 Friends of Greater Sydney, viewed
Feedback to date together with the responses to 8 April, <2010http://www.10000friends.org.au/reports/
the Preliminary Report indicates the Inquiry’s Docs/53/SITS(2)_final.pdf>
findings have been well received. For example, it Glazebrook, G 2009, Designing a Thirty Year Public Transport
is understood that Infrastructure Australia considers Plan for Sydney – Summary Report, University of Technology,
it a major contribution, which may be important, Sydney.
especially as the Prime Minister has indicated that NSW Department of Planning 2005, City of Cities –
State Governments will need to develop integrated Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney, Department of Planning
long-term integrated land use-transport plans NSW, Sydney.
before they can expect to receive Federal funding
NSW Department of Planning 2010, Metropolitan Strategy
for urban transport infrastructure. Review: Sydney Towards 2036 Discussion Paper, Department
It could be argued that the Inquiry has already had of Planning NSW, Sydney.
some impact in relation to recent decisions to cancel NSW Government 2010, Metropolitan Transport Plan:
the CBD metro and embark on light rail extensions. Connecting the City of Cities, NSW Government, Sydney.
However, these moves have been widely called for Warren Centre 2002, Sustainable Transport for Sustainable
and the CBD metro decision was no doubt also Cities, University of Sydney, Warren Centre.
greatly influenced by the budget considerations.
It remains to be seen whether Sydney can embrace
This note is based on a presentation to the
radical change in its governance and funding of
conference on ‘Sustainable Transport in the Asia-
public transport. The market research carried out for
Indo-Pacific: Varied Contexts – Common Aims’,
the Inquiry suggests this would be well received. But
GAMUT – Australasian Centre for the Governance
politicians remain risk averse, especially in relation
and Management of Urban Transport, University
to new taxes or increases in fares. It is likely also to
of Melbourne, 2–4 June 2010.
take some time to rebuild both public confidence,
as well as the capability and desire within the At the time of writing the article, Dr Garry Glazebrook
bureaucracy for genuine long term planning, was a Senior Lecturer, Urban Planning, University of
given the level of party-politicisation which has Technology, Sydney. He is now Manager, Transport
occurred in transport decision-making over the last Policy, at the City of Sydney. Email gglazebrook@
few decades. cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au.
The jury is thus still out on whether Sydney’s unique
experience of a Public Inquiry conducted outside
government will make a lasting contribution. It will
be interesting to review the situation in years to
come. This is perhaps a task better suited to people
not involved in the process.

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