The Council of Capital City Lord Mayors (CCCLM) welcomes the Prime Minister’s release today of the Infrastructure Australia report Our Infrastructure Challenges. The report highlights the urgent need for attention to the provision of the right infrastructure in our cities.
This report highlights that cities matter and infrastructure investment in them should be a priority.
Chair of the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors’ (CCCLM) and Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Martin Haese said with almost nine in ten Australians living in urban Australia, and 80 per cent of all goods and services produced in cities, our future as a strong, secure and sustainable country is at risk and will largely be determined by the ability for our cities to operative effectively.
“It is unsatisfactory to allow the unchecked and continued growth of this level of congestion in our cities,” said Martin.
The report shows that car travel times in the most gridlocked parts of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra are expected to jump by at least 20 per cent if no measures to boost capacity or curb demand are implemented. The cost of road delays in the six largest capital cities was $13.7 billion in 2011, but is projected to grow by around 290 per cent to $53.3 billion in 2031 without measures including new roads and more public transport funding. On average, demand for public transport in our capital cities is set to almost double over the next 20 years.
“Our growing population, and the nation’s economy deserves the support of an effective and efficient transport system, which provides choice to commuters”, he said.
“The CCCLM called on the Federal Government for investment in infrastructure in 2007; the problems identified then still exist, are still not being effectively addressed and are clearly still growing.”
The CCCLM looks forward to participating and providing contribution to the 15 year infrastructure plan.