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Date Published : Friday, August 15, 2008
The need for increased expenditure on the country's public transport system is being highlighted by spiralling fuel prices and concern over mortgages, research has shown.
Rising living costs means that those that have been able to switch to public transport have done so and the effects can be seen both in the city and the suburbs, according to research undertaken by Griffith University.
Researcher Dr Jago Dodson claims that in Australia's cities "public transport is bursting at the seams during peak hour, which gives clear evidence people will use public transport when it becomes just too costly not to".
Dr Dodson pointed out that Sydney's public transport system saw usage gradually decline in the five years between 2000 and 2005. However, between then and 2007 the number of journeys via train increased by 11 million, coinciding with the fuel price hikes.
Research shows that in April of this year, the number of buses in Brisbane that were so full they could not pick up any more passenger tripled. In April 2007 the council recorded 641 full buses but by April 2008 this figure had jumped to 1,800, leaving more and more people stranded at their bus stops.
Dr Dodson claims that both state and federal governments need to invest on a large scale, similar to how the federal Auslink project contributed to road infrastructure in the 1990s.
The government has already announced its investment programme for Australia's road and rail network during 2008 and 2009, with the investment to total $3.2 billion.
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