Sixty years of government pandering to the road and motorists’ lobbies have turned Parramatta Road, once a thriving commercial and residential strip, into ‘The Great Western Highway’ – a pompous name for a grimy traffic sewer.
But the opportunity now exists to reverse decades of damage, because, under the impact of relentlessly rising motor fuel costs, Sydney’s traffic growth stalled eight years ago.
Let’s Reclaim Parramatta Road
With a modest investment in light rail it’s now possible to remove tens of thousands of vehicle movements a day – particularly in the peak periods – from Parramatta Road and restore the historic thoroughfare as a pleasant and liveable place!
Every tram carrying 200 passengers is equivalent to a single lane of peak period traffic 2km long.
Fewer than 15 trams could carry all the commuters in the car traffic crawling from Strathfield to Railway Square in the morning and afternoon peaks.
Compared to a general traffic lane which can carry less than 2000 people per hour, a tram lane can carry 7,500 people an hour.
It would also carry up to twice as many commuters as a bus express lane. Trams would run every two minutes at peak and every five minutes off-peak. Late night services could run every ten or fifteen minutes connecting with Night Ride buses.
And world experience proves that light rail creates a confidence in its permanence that ephemeral bus routes can never have, so light rail provides certainty for long term investment by employers, developers, home-buyers and small businesses.
- Download brochure: Let’s reclaim Parramatta Road – The light rail solution (PDF)
- Sign the petition: Jamie Parker – Get On Board Light Rail
Examine Its Many Features
The Parramatta Road Light Rail will distribute people throughout the densely populated inner west, and to the many services and attractors like universities, shops, hospital, businesses and parks.
As well as connect them to major transport hubs and cross-regional transport services.
The Parramatta Road Light Rail will serve the dense inner west and allow entire fleets of buses to be distributed throughout the western suburbs.
NSW Transport Master Plan
Figure 4.4 Land Use Profile – Page 79 – Draft’s Colouring.
Combined to Form a Transformative Network