Lack of government funding puts public transport at risk

Perth’s rapid development and dramatic population growth is putting an increased amount of strain on the city’s public transport system. In recent years planning authorities have been put under immense pressure from the community to improve and extend the public transport services and to better plan for the current and future needs of the community. But how will this integral expansion of infrastructure and services be financially supported?

According to Australian Conservation Federation research, in the last ten years the state and federal governments spent three times more on the development and maintenance of WA roads, compared to other transport infrastructure including the Mandurah railway line. However at the same time the government is crying out for the public to move away from their reliance on motor vehicles and make use of the public transport services supplied. These efforts have been immensely successful, with The West Australian reporting an increase in the use of public transport by 70% in the last decade. The challenge now lies with the government to support this increase by meeting the demands, providing additional services and ultimately increasing funds to support the appropriate level of expansion.

According to the Public Transport Plan, by the year 2031 residents of Perth are expected to double their use of public transport. In accordance with this estimate, I believe the amount of allocated funding that the government intends to provide to support such an increase, should directly reflect this growth. Without this financial support, the willingness of the community to make use of these services will diminish as it becomes increasingly difficult and inconvenient to travel via public transport.