Janet Dore General Manager
Newcastle City Council
Box 489
NEWCASTLE 2300

Dear Ms. Dore,

Parks and Playgrounds Movement at its January 2002 monthly meeting resolved that a submission be made to the document titled Activating Public Transport in the Newcastle Region.

v      We note that a contribution to sustainable cities and liveable communities can be made by improved public transport and that there is a need to support the use of all modes of transport. (Toronto Protocol)

v      The Movement also is aware of the spare carrying capacity in the Hunter Region public transport system and of the need to encourage a greater use of public transport.

Public transport, particularly public buses provide an essential service for the young, the old, the disabled, the unemployed and to the people who do not have access to a motor car.

Public buses are in direct competition with private motorcars in the Newcastle area because every part of the urban area serviced by public bus transport is only a short time away from any other part using private motor transport. This of course will not necessarily be so in fifty years time.

Peak periods currently are only relatively short and mainly cause delays in the outer areas.

It is generally only those people who have no other choice who use the public buses and this makes it more difficult for the Public bus provider to attract private motorists out of their cars and onto public buses.

The train services are different in that rail services are not in direct competition with the private motorcar especially when the trip is to a congestion centre like the Sydney CBD. Many motorists are prepared to share their journey with train travel by leaving their cars at railway stations and travelling by railway train. There has been a steady increase in the use of passenger rail services to the CityRail stations over recent years.

Rail patronage increases dramatically in Newcastle whenever there are large publicised attractions such as the Regatta in Newcastle or the Knights victory celebration.

Newcastle to Maitland is the second rail passenger service established in Australia. Work was begun on the line in 1854 and was completed 1857 and Newcastle is indeed lucky to still have this prized facility linked to the modern CityRail network.

Rail transport is the only way to encourage large numbers of people directly into Newcastle city from the hinterland and from the central coast and Sydney area in a convenient and ecologically sustainable way.

The proposal to boost public transport by a single centralised hub for all public transport at Woodville Junction is unfortunately destined to failure because it is simply just not necessary. There are so many things that can be done by the local councils to help activate public transport given the existing system without the need for large expenditures on a hub that does not actually help public transport users to access the system. You have got to use the system to know its advantages and problems. It is pointless for non-users to pontificate on what’s good for public transport users. A single Transport Hub at Woodville would create inconvenience for commuters by adding extra travel time to most journeys and require a change of mode for travel to the CBD.

Ironically it would cause a reduction in the number of people using public transport.

The single hub is a theoretical concept that does not realise the potential of the existing infrastructure or note the fact that a large percentage of patrons will abandon the system if they have to change modes especially for the short trip into the CBD. Furthermore the proposal does not solve any of the real problems experienced by people who use the public transport system.

As a rule public transport in cities must be accessible at the centres of activity and private motorcars restricted to the periphery of activity centres.

Newcastle is fortunate that it can have an efficient and convenient public transport system that applies this rule.

The provision of a safe and convenient service to customers must be the main criteria used to test the public transport system.

Newcastle has a bus service that could be improved and better integrated with the rail system but there are no major public infrastructure problems except at Charlestown. In most parts of the Lake and the City it is a practical necessity for every household to own and operate a car even if members of the household do have to use Public Transport. For most households it is not a simple option of private or public transport.

Most households have to have a private motorcar and the option of using public transport for some journeys.

All efforts must go into promoting and encouraging the use of the bus service and improving operational issues.

Timed Fare

In the inner city the problem is that it is too expensive to use public transport with the timed fare.There is a need for a free or nominal fare bus service connecting the Parking stations and the inner city railway stations with the historic city and its tourist attractions.

Some of the rate moneys collected from the city-centre levy could be used to provide the subsidy.The issue is to advertise the system and promote the city. The Movement is at a loss to understand the constant denigration by our civic fathers of public transport especially the rail service, which is good, given the patronage. We must promote the city and encourage day trips from the Central Coast and the Sydney area.

All our public transport systems have good potential for increased patronage.

To take up that potential requires the practical initiative of promotion, encouragement, improved sign posting of rail station entrances, convenient pedestrian crossing near bus stops and provision of well lit comfortable bus shelters and increased frequency of service.

Buses also need priority lanes and improved road junctions that give good access to destination areas, shopping facilities etc. Public transport to the centre and private motorcars to the periphery should be the aim.

We propose that Newcastle Council subsidise Newcastle Bus travel in the Hunter Street by an agreement with Newcastle Buses to make all short trips in Hunter Street free and without charge or at a nominal charge of twenty cents to cover the cost of a ticket and the electronic processing to collate number of trips for statistical purposes.

A special free central area bus ticket could be issued at parking stations to patrons as required.

Our aim is to create a sustainable future and promote the public transport system and encourage more people to use public transport.

A reduction of bus services and the making of the Hunter Street shopping strip more difficult to access by public transport is not a positive way to improve public transport. Furthermore adding a change from rail to bus for the inner city passengers would create the inconvenience of having to make a connection with other services. A change of mode could add an extra fifteen to twenty minutes travel time if the connecting service was ready and longer if there was to be a wait for a connection.

Unique sense of place for rail passengers entering Newcastle.

It is a great experience with a unique sense of place for rail passengers entering the city with the harbour on one side and the historic city on the other. Unfortunately Council and Rail Access Corp have made little effort to tidy the rail corridor at the pedestrian level and make it more attractive. Removing the bottles and trash and replacing the ugly fences could make a dramatic improve to the landscape in the heart of the city.

CityRail should not stable trains in the foreshore corridor.

An improved railway crossing with pedestrian gates at each side and crush lanes in Hunter Street should be provided at Civic to allow two free traffic lanes in Hunter Street and a turning lane for vehicles crossing the railway. These are not costly improvements but they are essential if traffic flow pedestrian amenity is to be improved.

One railway level crossing with pedestrian use at Market St and two pedestrian overbridges one at Worth Place and the other at the Store have been removed from the corridor in recent years. The level crossing should be replaced at Worth Place and the pedestrian overbridges replaced at other suitable locations.

The Woodville Junction Transport Hub is not convenient to a bus route and would require a distortion of the normal travel patterns for all public transport users and actually cause a loss of public transport customers. The Department of Transport is charged with the responsibility for public transport and would be failing in its duty if it countenanced such a wasteful experiment.

It would make more sense to develop these now rather than wait for a long term Woodville Hub that would cut the city of Newcastle off from the CityRail system and reduce public transport options.

We already have two major bus routes passing close to the Broadmeadow station, which is on the main line. Both bus services pass close to the station but do not connect with the actual station.

We have developed a proposal that could be immediately introduced to take customers within a few metres of the station concourse. The trouble is that this would add a further four to five minutes to bus travel times on the main routes and there would only be a small percentage of passengers that would currently use the station.

Newcastle Council is the planning authority for its area and could create Broadmeadow as an urban village focused on the public transport node. Other village centres should be developed in Lake Macquarie and Newcastle around every railway station making the urban areas more convenient for commuters to use rail or buses services.

It is patently obvious that removing CityRail access to Newcastle, Civic, Wickham and Hamilton Stations would remove direct access to the inner area of Newcastle and make Newcastle less accessible and people friendly.

Diversity and sustainable development requires a well-integrated transport network with every rail station a focus linking with other public transport and improved residential densities within walking distance of each station.

It would foolish to remove four existing stations from the CityRail network and reduce the access and choice options that are needed in a future vital down town city area.

Running express buses on the rail corridor as suggested by some is a nonsense. It would be destructive of the unique rail corridor and remove Newcastle from the CityRail network and put buses into a straight jacket. The convenience of the buses being able to take patrons to bus stops near their destination would be lost as well as removing the advantage of inter-urban rail services bringing commuters directly into the city.

A revision of Newcastle Bus services has recently been made and new routes and timetables introduced. The bus services are being scaled back and made less convenient and it remains to be seen if there are further losses leading to another reduction in services in the future.

If there is one part of the public transport network that urgently needs attention it is at Charlestown.

We would propose that there should be a public parking station connected to an undercover bus station at Charlestown with easy access to the shopping centres on both sides of the highway.

A Woodville hub would not help Charlestown in fact it would only make it impossible to entice road users to leave their car at Charlestown and travel to Newcastle by bus.

The extra inconvenience and fifteen minutes to twenty minutes extra travel time above the existing travel time would deter most commuters or shoppers.

There is a wide variation in the number of passengers using the Newcastle Station each day from 3000 to 5000 mainly determined by the activities promoted in the city or on the foreshore. The obvious need at Newcastle is to restore the heritage fabric of the station and promote the full use of the buildings and to improve the narrow concourse at the eastern end of the platforms.

It is apparent that there could be increased patronage of the railway with increased promotion of the city.

Unfortunately it is the opposite that always seems to happen. The continual denigration of the railway over the past twenty years has got to be replaced by the positive promotion of the city. There may be a possibility to build extra train stations and better connections to bus services when they are needed but the issue facing us now is to promote the use of what we have for the benefit of the city and to carry out future improvements to the infrastructure in a purposeful way.

Broadmeadow Railway Station

Broadmeadow Railway Station is in need of urgent improvement. A larger and wider subway is needed with tiled walls, off- street parking facilities for commuters. Graded walkways or lifts to the platforms and a more attractive arrival and departure concourse and better connections to the Bus services to Charlestown, Lake Macquarie and Wallsend

Public transport is a service that needs to be promoted and encouraged.

It is not possible to make people travel by public transport. The majority of public bus users do so only because it is their only option to where they are travelling, because they have no car available, are too old to drive, or are young, unemployed or disabled. These are the people that must be served by public transport and are currently using public bus transport.

CityRail services on the other hand are used by inter city commuters as well as those already mentioned. Commuters usually desire to use rail and there is opportunity for promoting increased travel to Newcastle by rail. Patronage has been increasing slowly over recent years but there has never been a realistic promotion of Newcastle as a destination.

We would particularly like the Newcastle Council to promote the free or nominal cost of travel on buses in the Hunter Street area as an immediate service and an encouragement of public transport use in the city centre.

As the concept of ecologically sustainable development becomes well understood by the general public and the city becomes more urbane and pedestrian friendly more and more citizens will want to use public transport.

Yours sincerely,