The Guardian 23 July, 2008
Oh brave New South Wales
Peter Mac
The current Catholic World Youth Day (CWYD) activities in Sydney have placed tremendous burdens on the city’s transport network, and have exposed serious weaknesses which the Iemma Government has failed to address.
City stations which are normally crowded became extremely dangerous at peak-hours, as youthful pilgrims jostled with other passengers for space, perilously close to the platform edges. Trains entered at a snail’s pace, while station staff attempted desperately to persuade everyone to stand back from the trains and not rush to the doors as they opened.
Sydney’s public transport system, which did such wonderful service during the 2000 Olympics, was brought to the limit of its capabilities by the CWYD events, to an extent which was clearly not even considered by the Iemma Government.
Sydney’s future public transport
The CWYD certainly provided an example of how right-wing theological conservatives can sell mediaeval mumbo-jumbo en masse with the help of media. However, it also demonstrated the demands likely to be placed on Sydney’s transport system within the next 20 years, as a result of normal population increase.
Moreover, as in other major urban centres, planning for Sydney’s public transport network will need to be revised radically in the light of climate change, and the rocketing cost of petroleum, arising from the "peak oil" crisis.
As a result of these developments the cost of petrol will soon rise beyond the reach of many motorists. The production of battery-operated cars is already technically feasible, but this will be forestalled as long as possible by the existing automobile and oil corporations
As more and more people come to rely on public transport, the rail network will have to become economical and efficient, and serve a wider landmass and population.
However, the Iemma Government is still determined to introduce a totally new system of "Metro" rail lines. The astronomical cost of constructing this completely different system would absorb all the funds available for upgrading and maintaining the existing system over the nest 20 years. The Metro would also be privately owned, which would inevitably result in a massive increase in fares and an abysmal fall in maintenance and upgrading, as has already happened in Melbourne and other cities.
One recent report concluded that the Iemma Government’s costing of its Metro proposal was totally inadequate, and the estimates of its capacity were grossly exaggerated. This hasn’t deterred the Labor government, which is determined to sell off the state’s electric power system, despite huge opposition from within the Labor Party, the unions, environmental groups and the general public.
That second airport
NSW governments have been arguing for 50 years about the possible location for a second airport for Sydney. The Iemma government and representatives of tourism and other industries have recently been promoting the establishment of a new international airport at the existing Richmond RAAF base west of Sydney, or at Williamtown, outside Newcastle.
It is entirely possible that state and federal governments could finally decide to build a brand spanking huge new airport at either of these locations, or at some other location, at equally huge public expense.
However, government planning does not seem to have taken into account the harsh reality that the soaring cost of aviation fuel is soon likely to push air travel beyond the reach of most would-be tourists, even if firms like Qantas manage to succeed in crushing the wage levels of its employees.
There will then be a far lower load on the capacity of the existing Kingsford-Smith Airport facilities, eliminating the need for a second airport altogether.
NSW or bust
Humankind is facing an enormous natural crisis caused by its own activities. Climate change and petroleum shortages will require a second industrial revolution on a vaster scale than its predecessor, involving the global abandonment of the internal combustion engine, and the development of new "no-emission" methods of powering transport and industry.
State and federal governments in many countries are responding with determination and imagination. In the Netherlands they are investigating storing energy in huge subterranean compressed air tanks. The Chinese government is constructing massive electrical wind farms, which are soon expected to provide up to eight percent of the nation’s power.
The German government is lining the highways with solar voltaic panels, and either encouraging or forcing the private sector to invest in renewable energy systems. For the first time in 30 years, European citizens are experiencing lighter-than-air travel by dirigibles, and in Switzerland research is being conducted into solar-powered aircraft.
Climate change and petroleum shortages will require a second industrial revolution on a vaster scale than its predecessor, involving the global abandonment of the internal combustion engine, and the development of new "no-emission" methods of powering transport and industry.