Sunshine Coast

1326 Words3 Pages

The Sunshine Coast is currently suffering from many public transport issues. At the moment there is only a bus and rail system and many people believe that this is not effectively moving people around the Sunshine Coast. The predominant form of transport is therefore a private vehicle. With carbon emissions from cars on the rise many people are looking for alternative solutions for public transport. The Sunshine Coast Regional Council have offered the alternative of a light rail system as a proposed alternative to alleviate some of the issues that have arisen from the current transport system such as long waiting times, unreliable services, not enough stops, distance to stops, congestions and the railway being too far away. The proposed light …show more content…

Traffic congestion and pollution exists because the costs of driving cars are artificially low. Research has shown that light rails provide a more optimal level of traffic congestion by serving as a marginal reducer of traffic congestion during peak hours. This alone would make the congestion reduction from a light rail quite significant.
ECONOMIC
The addition of a light rail would overall prove to be sustainable for the economy through it’s cost efficiency. The broader economic benefits of light rail include its contribution to reducing congestion – which will cost Australia and estimated $12.9 billion in 2010 – and increasing productivity through greater urban mobility and transport choice. Light rail has been found to be particularly effective in achieving mode shift away from private vehicle travel. It offers efficiency, comfort, and high capacity. The visual reassurance of light rail infrastructure and the guarantee of regular and reliable services are particularly important factors in helping change urban travel behavior.

Development and economic …show more content…

However, a cheaper bus solution might be appropriate if light rail cannot be afforded in the initial years of the project.
(How is the current system better than implementing a light rail to the sunshine coast)
3.0 Recommendations – research
Incorporation of the GCRT urban design framework into Version Two of the QPP compliant planning scheme will require a more thorough review of the framework against Council’s new zones and zone codes and if relevant, removal of the overlay and overlay code (from Version One at the appropriate time). Provisions within the overlay and overlay code in Version One should be incorporated into the (new or existing) zones, and local plans or their relevant codes(zone provisions prevail over local plan provisions unless otherwise stated). This thorough review will involve identifying what elements of the framework are unique to land and development within the corridor, or can be implemented across the city. The optimum long term planning scheme outcome is a series of local plans to reflect the Urban Design Framework detail, where

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