❓ Mr. Sutherland asks about the details of the Minister for Transport's integrated transport plan for Perth CBD. The Minister responds by outlining several initiatives including a new CAT bus service, upgrades to shared paths, priority bus lanes, and changes to traffic signals.
AnsweredQoN 179Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
perth cBD integrated transport plan
179. Mr M.W. SUTHERLAND to the Minister for Transport:
M any
government initiatives are transforming Perth. I note the minister's
recent announcement of his plan to create a modern integrated transport plan
for the CBD. Can the minister please outline to the house details of the key
components of this plan?
179. Mr M.W. SUTHERLAND to the Minister for Transport:
M any
government initiatives are transforming Perth. I note the minister's
recent announcement of his plan to create a modern integrated transport plan
for the CBD. Can the minister please outline to the house details of the key
components of this plan?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Mount Lawley for the question. He is
right. I do not think we got the pronunciation as it sounded on my ears, but I
think the word was ''transforming''. We are transforming Perth. We
have only to look at the projects happening around the city to understand, as
the vast majority of people who live in Perth do, that under this government's
initiatives Perth will be transformed. Work on the Perth Waterfront project
started last week. Work on the Perth City Link project is underway. The stadium
has been announced and that will stimulate a lot of activity to the east of the
city. The city is transforming. Of course, not everyone in here supports the
transformation of Perth; the member for Perth—stick in the mud—is
one and the shadow Minister for Transport is another. Each of those three
transformational projects is opposed by the Labor Party. Each of those is
opposed by the flat-earthers who sit opposite us in this chamber.
Mr M. McGowan : Bring
it on for debate.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
What part do you want to debate?
Mr M. McGowan : You
delayed the stadium.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
How about we take the member for Rockingham, chief architect of the WA Labor
flat-earthers, down to the city where he can see the tunnel going in? The
member for Rockingham reminds me a bit of Samuel Shenton. In 1956 he
reinvigorated the modern Flat Earth Society. Perhaps the member for Rockingham
is forming a branch over there. Let us look at some of the things that have already
happened.
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
do not sit in front of the mirror, member for Cockburn. In fact, I do not have
the extra lights put in around the mirror, unlike some places. I do not have
the exhaust fan adjusted down because the newspaper keeps floating to the
ceiling.
What are we doing? An amount of $57 million has already been
announced to put the third lane in the tunnel. An amount of $57 million has
already been announced to assist with the widening of the freeway through to
Vincent Street. That will happen by May 2013. The freeway will be widened from
Vincent Street to Hutton Street as part of that $57 million commitment. Last
week we announced another $47 million of initiatives that will help to deliver
a modern contemporary transport solution for the CBD. Why? Because the city is
transforming and the population of Perth is growing. Member for Mount Lawley, I
will touch on some elements of that. To assist me I have some charts. Now,
Treasurer, you call that a chart! Have a look at this one. When we came into
government, these were on A4 sheets. Last year we got them up to A2. Now we are up to A1. If we keep going, we will have a full billboard!
The first initiative is a new green CAT bus service, at $5.8 million
over four years, to link Leederville to the train station in the middle of the
city, the Esplanade station.
Mr A.P. O'Gorman interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Do not talk about train stations, my friend. I will get that CCTV one day. That is the first thing. The second
component is a very, very important component. An amount of $7.5 million has
been allocated to upgrade some of the principal shared paths around the city to
help people who cycle through the city, principally along Roe Street and
Barrack Street. It is all in the member for Perth's electorate. The
second part of this comprehensive plan is $3.8 million to fund some additional
priority bus lanes into the city. Those priority bus lanes will be in William Street,
Beaufort Street and Mounts Bay Road. We will use another $5 million to change
the nature of traffic signals in the city, creating what we call parallel walk–type
intersections. There is already one in there.
Ms R. Saffioti :
Radical!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It might be radical, but the Labor government did not do it. Member for West
Swan, the light did not come on when Labor was in government. These
intersections speed up traffic moving through the city and make it easier for
people to cross the road. Heaven forbid! I think it is a good initiative.
The third thing—I am nearly done—is that we
are putting in, at a cost of $4.8 million, an extra 30 closed-circuit
television cameras, shown on this chart as yellow boxes, around the CBD. Those
CCTV cameras —
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
We will be able to follow the member for Perth around his electorate!
Point of Order
Mr
J.N. HYDE : Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to standing order 92
regarding imputations of improper motives and personal reflections, which both
the minister and his interjectors have been undertaking. Mr Speaker, you have
quite rightly prevented people on this side of the house from making
injections, because they are disorderly. I do request that you adhere to
standing order 92 with the members of the government.
The
SPEAKER : I will take your advice on board, member for Perth.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
As I was about to say, there will be another 30 CCTV cameras at congestion
hotspots around the city. I think that is a good idea, member for Perth; you
may not. Those CCTV cameras will be connected into the traffic operations
centre. That will enable them to, in real-time, adjust traffic signals so that
when issues arise, they can move the traffic on. It will also enable them to
call up—this seems to have grabbed the media's attention—our
fleet of shunters. This idea is taken from Melbourne. There will be four of
these shunters, at a cost of around $6.6 million—one on each of the two
freeway approaches to the city, one in the tunnel, and one in the CBD—and
when there is a vehicle breakdown and the driver is still able to control the
vehicle, these shunters will be available to move traffic on quickly so that
the city is not clogged up when vehicles break down.
This is a very, very exciting set of initiatives. It will
include—I should throw this in for the member for Gosnells—a
hybrid bus trial. We will be trialling a hybrid bus here in Perth towards the
end the year, supplied by Volvo. That is a very exciting and important step
forward as we look for alternate fuel buses post our current diesel order.
That is over $100 million being spent by this government on
easing congestion in the CBD and putting in place a modern transport solution
for a city that is going through the single biggest transformation in its
history.
Point of Order
Mrs
M.H. ROBERTS : Mr Speaker, the answer from the Minister for Transport
has gone for over seven minutes. It was a dorothy dix question. He has
presented a number of charts. I put it to you, Mr Speaker, that a ministerial
statement—it clearly would have been too long for a brief ministerial
statement—is what the minister should have done if he was going to
outline that many plans for his portfolio. I put it to you, Mr Speaker, that it
was an abuse of question time to go on for over seven minutes. I acknowledge
that some 20-something seconds was taken up by the member for Perth's point
of order, but that answer was very lengthy.
right. I do not think we got the pronunciation as it sounded on my ears, but I
think the word was ''transforming''. We are transforming Perth. We
have only to look at the projects happening around the city to understand, as
the vast majority of people who live in Perth do, that under this government's
initiatives Perth will be transformed. Work on the Perth Waterfront project
started last week. Work on the Perth City Link project is underway. The stadium
has been announced and that will stimulate a lot of activity to the east of the
city. The city is transforming. Of course, not everyone in here supports the
transformation of Perth; the member for Perth—stick in the mud—is
one and the shadow Minister for Transport is another. Each of those three
transformational projects is opposed by the Labor Party. Each of those is
opposed by the flat-earthers who sit opposite us in this chamber.
Mr M. McGowan : Bring
it on for debate.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
What part do you want to debate?
Mr M. McGowan : You
delayed the stadium.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
How about we take the member for Rockingham, chief architect of the WA Labor
flat-earthers, down to the city where he can see the tunnel going in? The
member for Rockingham reminds me a bit of Samuel Shenton. In 1956 he
reinvigorated the modern Flat Earth Society. Perhaps the member for Rockingham
is forming a branch over there. Let us look at some of the things that have already
happened.
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
do not sit in front of the mirror, member for Cockburn. In fact, I do not have
the extra lights put in around the mirror, unlike some places. I do not have
the exhaust fan adjusted down because the newspaper keeps floating to the
ceiling.
What are we doing? An amount of $57 million has already been
announced to put the third lane in the tunnel. An amount of $57 million has
already been announced to assist with the widening of the freeway through to
Vincent Street. That will happen by May 2013. The freeway will be widened from
Vincent Street to Hutton Street as part of that $57 million commitment. Last
week we announced another $47 million of initiatives that will help to deliver
a modern contemporary transport solution for the CBD. Why? Because the city is
transforming and the population of Perth is growing. Member for Mount Lawley, I
will touch on some elements of that. To assist me I have some charts. Now,
Treasurer, you call that a chart! Have a look at this one. When we came into
government, these were on A4 sheets. Last year we got them up to A2. Now we are up to A1. If we keep going, we will have a full billboard!
The first initiative is a new green CAT bus service, at $5.8 million
over four years, to link Leederville to the train station in the middle of the
city, the Esplanade station.
Mr A.P. O'Gorman interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Do not talk about train stations, my friend. I will get that CCTV one day. That is the first thing. The second
component is a very, very important component. An amount of $7.5 million has
been allocated to upgrade some of the principal shared paths around the city to
help people who cycle through the city, principally along Roe Street and
Barrack Street. It is all in the member for Perth's electorate. The
second part of this comprehensive plan is $3.8 million to fund some additional
priority bus lanes into the city. Those priority bus lanes will be in William Street,
Beaufort Street and Mounts Bay Road. We will use another $5 million to change
the nature of traffic signals in the city, creating what we call parallel walk–type
intersections. There is already one in there.
Ms R. Saffioti :
Radical!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It might be radical, but the Labor government did not do it. Member for West
Swan, the light did not come on when Labor was in government. These
intersections speed up traffic moving through the city and make it easier for
people to cross the road. Heaven forbid! I think it is a good initiative.
The third thing—I am nearly done—is that we
are putting in, at a cost of $4.8 million, an extra 30 closed-circuit
television cameras, shown on this chart as yellow boxes, around the CBD. Those
CCTV cameras —
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
We will be able to follow the member for Perth around his electorate!
Point of Order
Mr
J.N. HYDE : Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to standing order 92
regarding imputations of improper motives and personal reflections, which both
the minister and his interjectors have been undertaking. Mr Speaker, you have
quite rightly prevented people on this side of the house from making
injections, because they are disorderly. I do request that you adhere to
standing order 92 with the members of the government.
The
SPEAKER : I will take your advice on board, member for Perth.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
As I was about to say, there will be another 30 CCTV cameras at congestion
hotspots around the city. I think that is a good idea, member for Perth; you
may not. Those CCTV cameras will be connected into the traffic operations
centre. That will enable them to, in real-time, adjust traffic signals so that
when issues arise, they can move the traffic on. It will also enable them to
call up—this seems to have grabbed the media's attention—our
fleet of shunters. This idea is taken from Melbourne. There will be four of
these shunters, at a cost of around $6.6 million—one on each of the two
freeway approaches to the city, one in the tunnel, and one in the CBD—and
when there is a vehicle breakdown and the driver is still able to control the
vehicle, these shunters will be available to move traffic on quickly so that
the city is not clogged up when vehicles break down.
This is a very, very exciting set of initiatives. It will
include—I should throw this in for the member for Gosnells—a
hybrid bus trial. We will be trialling a hybrid bus here in Perth towards the
end the year, supplied by Volvo. That is a very exciting and important step
forward as we look for alternate fuel buses post our current diesel order.
That is over $100 million being spent by this government on
easing congestion in the CBD and putting in place a modern transport solution
for a city that is going through the single biggest transformation in its
history.
Point of Order
Mrs
M.H. ROBERTS : Mr Speaker, the answer from the Minister for Transport
has gone for over seven minutes. It was a dorothy dix question. He has
presented a number of charts. I put it to you, Mr Speaker, that a ministerial
statement—it clearly would have been too long for a brief ministerial
statement—is what the minister should have done if he was going to
outline that many plans for his portfolio. I put it to you, Mr Speaker, that it
was an abuse of question time to go on for over seven minutes. I acknowledge
that some 20-something seconds was taken up by the member for Perth's point
of order, but that answer was very lengthy.
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