Logan suburbs have the worst public transport of any capital city region in the country, a new report claims, with less than 20 per cent of some residents able to access “quality” shared transport.
“Leaving them stuck using polluting and expensive cars for most of their trips,” the Climate Council of Australia report claimed.
Climate Council Head of Policy and Advocacy, Dr Jennifer Rayner, said public transport should be at the level where commuters can simply “turn up and go from point A to B”.
The council agreed more public and active transport opportunities were needed to “get people out of cars” and curb the damage caused by fossil fuels.
To do this, experts expect services to run a minimum of every 15 minutes between 7am-7pm and within 800 metres of homes.
“To get us out of our expensive, polluting cars, governments need to centre shared and active transport in all transport and land use planning,” Dr Rayner said.
“This includes new investments that enable the uptake of shared and active transport – like better-connected footpaths and walkways and improving the quality and frequency of public transport services.
“Smart urban planning will also deliver more housing near existing transport routes.”
While Logan residents close to the rail corridor benefit from all day train services, as well as major projects like Faster Rail (which will see Logan’s rail tracks doubled and stations upgraded), the report claimed more frequent transport services were needed in low-socioeconomic areas.
The report claimed only 17 per cent of the population in suburbs like Eagleby and Marsden had access to frequent, all day public transport.
Services in these suburbs run as little as once every hour.
Dr Rayner said increasing services would reduce car dependency, which would ultimately reduce pollution, make streets safer and cut cost of living.
More services mean residents save on petrol, registration, tolls, insurance and loan repayments.
In its most recent budget, the state government announced increased bus services for Logan Reserve, Bahrs Scrub, Park Ridge, Springwood, Loganholme, Woodridge, Loganlea and Browns Plains, as well as the first ever bus service in Berrinba.
Yarrabilba will receive an “on demand” public transport service to replace buses in times when they aren’t available, as well as an updated route to Loganlea train station.
The Climate Council claims public transport connects people to education, employment, essential services, recreational activities, friends, family and “so much more”.
The council’s research suggests quality shared and active transport boosts access to these services “in ways that can shorten commutes and make them more enjoyable”.
Other research indicates building more roads to combat car traffic congestion only “increases the number of cars on the road”, as traffic fills any available road space.
Public health physician Dr Kate Charlesworth said “we need smarter, healthier transport solutions”.
“We should all be able to breathe clean air and spend time outdoors without worrying about harmful pollution entering our lungs,” she said.
“Particulate pollution from cars has adverse effects on our hearts and lungs, on pregnant women and children.
“It’s also estimated to be responsible for more than 11,000 premature deaths in Australian adults.”
She said it was possible to prevent these harms by delivering better shared and active transport options.
“We have everything we need right now to make our transport system cleaner and better,” she said.
“For the sake of our health, governments should step up investment that helps more people use shared and active transport more often.”
