Whatever Happened to MAX?

Following Vincent Council's rejecting the Government's bus lane proposal for Fitzgerald Street, largely on the very-reasonable grounds that it provides no adequate basis for long term planning and development of either transport or land use, long-term Vincent resident Andrew Main has come to the defence of bus lanes in a letter to the Perth Voice newspaper.

As a long-time urban transport planner and former Vincent Councillor, I can't let Andrew's assertions go unchallenged.

Andrew criticises the Vincent Council for 'withholding support' from the Government bus lane proposal - apparently on the grounds that something (anything?) is better than nothing - although he admits to severe doubts about light rail anyway.

Andrew appears to consider that the only role of public transport is to get people to and from the City of Perth ("The bus lane proposal on Fitzgerald Street will benefit Vincent residents by making bus trips into and out of the city much quicker"). I, for one, would rather see public transport that created better access to and within the City of Vincent rather than simply speeding-up journeys to the central city.

What Andrew fails to realise is that light rail brings benefits beyond pure travel to a place that is already busy. Light rail has been demonstrated time and time again to encourage development, business, employment and appropriate residential density at key points along its route; bus lanes do not do so to anything like the same extent. The key reason for this is the sheer permanence of light rail infrastructure, which gives investors reassurance about the future.

Bus lanes and bus services are inherently flexible, but this apparent advantage is actually a disadvantage in a metropolitan region that is having to accommodate rapid population growth. In the absence of a strategic and selective approach to development and density in Vincent, which is better supported by light rail than by bus, we will be faced with less discriminating pressure to increase density across Vincent as a whole.

And even though the PTA states that its proposed bus lanes are consistent with implementing the MAX light rail at a later date, the danger is that when patronage is sufficient to 'justify' this it will all be too difficult - what do you do with that large number of existing passengers, who provide the justification, while you are installing the light rail.

Bus lanes do have a valuable role to play - but not everywhere. At the very least, we need to be sure that the PTA has properly considered all the issues and that this is not simply a cheap short-term fix that will make life more difficult and preclude desirable outcomes in the longer term.

And Eleni Evangel has bought into the issue, stating that "light rail is not off the table entirely". 

Well, that will give the Vincent community and Council great reassurance! 

In next to no time we've gone from a firm commitment to MAX light rail for a corridor sorely ignored by rail public transport in Perth to el-cheapo bus lanes and light rail 'not being entirely off the table'.