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Integrated Transport Plan for Parramatta City Centre Detailed Report |
INTEGRATED
TRANSPORT PLAN FOR PARRAMATTA CITY CENTRE
DETAILED REPORT
BACKGROUND
1. The Integrated Transport Plan for Parramatta City Centre is in
response to the Parramatta City Centre Plan (2007) which sets out the planning
framework for an additional 30,000 jobs and 20,000 residents by 2031. This planned growth will generate significant
travel demand to
2. The key elements of the Plan are:
(a) Ongoing
lobbying for NSW State Government commitment for improved public transport
including the Parramatta to Epping Rail Link, Parramatta to Castle Hills Rail
Link, commuter ferry service from the Inner West to Parramatta, within a more
acceptable timeframe than the current policy.
(b) A
Pedestrian & Cycle Amenity Zone in the city centre to improve pedestrian
and cycle accessibility and safety through new facilities and a lower speed
limit.
(c) City
and Regional Ring Roads to better manage traffic flow to more appropriate
routes.
(d) Relocating commuter car parking to the
periphery of the city centre and development of park & ride facilities.
3. The Plan sets out possible future transport planning policy for
the next 5 years. There are a
significant number of recommended strategies involving lobbying State
Government and its agencies. However,
some may require additional budget beyond Council’s existing programs. Any additional budget requirements of
individual strategies can be considered at the appropriate time by Council as
is the normal process.
4. Council has an established relationships with State Government
agencies and key stakeholders across a number of the recommended strategies
including bus priority, cross-city bus services, ferry service, Staff Travel
Plan, Walking School Bus, extended 40kph city centre zones, cycle routes to the
city centre, additional city centre cycle parking including the Federally
funded secure cycle parking and improvement and taxi ranks.
5. The draft Plan was on public exhibition from 4 November to 1
December 2009. It was available for
public viewing at Council’s administration building and local libraries and
from Council’s website. There were
adverts in the local weekly papers for 4 weeks.
6. In addition the following were invited to provide comments: RTA,
Dept. of Transport & Infrastructure, DECCW, Sydney Metro, Dept. of
Planning, Premier’s Council for Active Living, local State and Federal MPs, surrounding
local Councils, Parramatta Traffic Committee, Parramatta Bicycle Committee, car
share operators, Sydney Buses, Hillsbus, Veolia, Hopkinsons, RailCorp, Sydney
Ferries, Parramatta Chamber of Commerce, WSROC, Tourisium & Transport
Forum, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Property Council of
Australia NSW, BicycleNSW, Bus & Coach Association and Western Sydney
Community Forum.
RECENTLY
ANNOUCED CHANGES TO TRANSPORT
7. The Metropolitan Transport Plan was announced on 20 February
2010 and contained key changes of direction for
8. The Department of Transport & Infrastructure has announced
a new ticketing system to be introduced on 23 April 2010, called “MyZone”. This is a significant step towards integrated
ticketing and is the final stage in equalising ticketing products between
private and public bus operators. In
addition Sydney Buses are planning to introduce Pre-Pay only ticketing within
the Parramatta Interchange to improve bus journey reliability.
9. New bus services in region 3, basically Hopkinsons services to
and from Holroyd LGA, are scheduled to be introduced from 22 March 2010. The significant change is that all
Hopkinsons’ services will terminate at the Interchange rather than at George
Street.
PUBLIC
EXHIBITION RESPONCES RECIEVED
10. A total of twelve submissions were received including those
received after the closing date for submissions. The submissions were from 5 State Government
agencies, 3 local Councils, 1 resident, 1 car share provider, 1 transport
interest group and 1 consultant.
11. The majority of submissions from the State Government agencies raised
minor corrections to facts. There was a
significantly number of respondents who were generally supportive of the measures
to encourage sustainable transport while reducing the reliance on private car
use, particularly the local Council submissions. A summary of the key comments and their
response, is shown below.
|
Comment |
Response |
|
Support
decreasing reliance on car use and increased use of sustainable transport. |
Support
noted. |
|
Revised
2009 State Plan has set a target of 50% of journey to work trips to
Parramatta city centre by public transport by 2016. |
Noted
and included. |
|
That
a Transport plan be prepare for all local centres. |
A
Transport Plan for Granville has been adopted. A draft Transport Plan for Westmead has
been prepared and the recommendations will be incorporated into the Vision
document for Westmead which will also include land use and urban design
work. A Transport Plan for Epping is
linked to the DoP’s funding to undertake joint planning work with Hornsby
Shire Council. |
|
The
importance of additional transport links to the North West, particularly
public transport. Considering that
approximately of 5% of residents in the Hills LGA use the bus to travel to
work in Parramatta and the planned residential growth is 100,000 by
2031. Also recognising the importance
of Parramatta as the closet regional city. |
Highlight
the importance of bus lanes on Windsor Road and inclusion of a Parramatta to
Castle Hill Rail Link connecting to the North West Rail Line to Rouse Hill. |
|
Support
for additional bus priority measures and cycle routes. |
Noted. |
|
Completion
of the Parramatta to Epping Rail Link. |
Noted. |
|
Support
for additional bus priority. |
Noted. |
|
Improvements
to bus stops. |
Noted. |
|
Additional
pedestrian guard railing within the Interchange. |
This
is an operational issue for RailCorp who manages the Interchange. This is supported |
|
The
proposed Pedestrian & Cycle Amenity Zone need careful consideration and
may diminish the outcomes for public transport |
Noted. |
|
No
support for cross-city bus services at present. |
This
was discussed with State Government and bus operators at a meeting in January
2010. It also discussed the decreasing capacity of bus layover spaces and the
suggestion of cross-city bus services as solution to this problem. The meeting noted that the eastern layover
(Station St) operates overcapacity but just about manages to operate
satisfactory at most times as Charles Street (leased by the RTA from Council)
is used as a spill-over layover. One
of the operators present was opposed to cross-city services while another was
supportive of further exploration, neither of whom made a submission. State
Government agencies at acknowledged the need to investigate the issue and
recognised that cross-city routes was one solution. |
|
Lack
cycle infrastructure is the biggest factor to overcome to encourage cycling. |
Noted. |
|
Revised
2009 State Plan has set a target for Metropolitan Sydney of 5% of trips by
bicycle by 2016. |
Noted
and included. |
|
Need
to develop better connections to the North West. Extend the Carlingford Line to Granville
rather than Parramatta and to the North West rather than Epping. |
Highlight
the importance of bus lanes on Windsor Road. A
new rail link from Parramatta to Castle Hill has been added. It is suggested that service could be
provided from Rouse Hill to Leppington via Castle Hill, Parramatta and
Liverpool. |
|
Against
proposal to convert one-way streets to two-way as it will reduce traffic
speeds. |
The
aim of the two-way streets scheme is support the 40kph Pedestrian & Cycle
Amenity Zone and increased vehicle accessibility within the city centre that
the current one-way streets restricts. |
|
Suggest
operating buses on east-west streets of Philip St, George St and Macquarie St
to avoid the use of Church St due to the noise and pollution. |
The
noise and pollution of buses has decreased as the regulations on emissions
increases. It is best practice to
operate two-way bus routes rather than one-way to better understand the bus
network. Sydney Buses and Hillsbus bus
routes were investigated in depth over 4 years and the current arrangement is
the outcome of that process which included several irritations. In additional to run bus from the north and
north-east along the east-west streets and avoiding using Church St would
significantly increase the bus operating costs. |
|
Lack
of spatial analysis. |
Noted. Consultant promoting skills. |
|
Strong
support for cycling. |
Noted. |
|
Increase
car sharing spaces. |
Noted. Council have invited car share operators to
identify and apply for additional locations. |
|
Continue
to limit the provision of car parking within the city centre. |
Noted. |
|
Further
investigation of proposed new traffic signals. |
Noted. This is part of the normal due process. |
|
Use
of CCTV to enforce bus lanes requires change of legislation. |
Noted
and included. |
|
Road
network improvements on State roads require detailed traffic modelling and
funding support. |
Noted. This is part of the normal due process. |
|
Plan
should identify a framework to monitor performance of the road network and
identify schemes and funding to improve the network |
Council
has limited funding to monitor traffic flows and implement road
improvements. The RTA is best placed
to monitor traffic flows using its network of CCTV cameras in the city centre
and also the RTA controls traffic signals which are key to the road network
performance. Increasing road network
performance in isolation will induce additional traffic flows, against the
key object of the Plan which is decreased car reliance and increased use of
sustainable transport. |
OTHER CONSULTATION
12. The draft Summary Plan was circulated to Councillors for comment
as a Green Paper on 27 August 2009, no comments were received. The draft Integrated Transport Plan was
considered for public exhibition on 19 October 2010. The draft Plan was adopted with one objective
removed E3 (Environment) - Investigate discounted parking for Environmentally
Friendly Vehicles promotion of alternative environmentally friendly fuels.
David Gray
Senior Project Officer,
Transport Planning
22 March 2010