Public Transport only solution to rising air pollution

Saturday, 25 February 2006 00:21

TEC Director Mr Jeff Angel said "Poor air quality this summer and an alarming increase vehicle use show that the State Government has a long way to go to fix air quality problems in the Sydney air shed. We need a major injection of capital to improve public transport and encourage people to leave their cars at home."

Air quality standards for photochemical smog have been exceeded 14 times this summer  double that of the same period last year. Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT) also more than doubled the rate of population growth despite the government's own targets to achieve zero growth in per capita Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT) by 2011 and zero growth in Total VKT by 2021.

"Vehicle use continues to grow due to the failure of public transport to keep pace with a demand. Sydney residents are being forced into ever increasing car dependency. TEC has called on the Government to immediately produce a detailed and fully funded infrastructure plan for public transport to support its metro strategy. Treasurer Michael Costa has previously resisted the release of an infrastructure plan, however, he must take responsibility for providing the funds to fix our public transport and air pollution crisis." Mr Angel said

Ozone, the major indicator of photochemical smog, is formed by the atmospheric reaction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) in warm conditions and the government has blamed poor air quality this summer on hot weather. This has been dismissed by TEC as ignoring the major source of pollution rising car use.

"It is simply misleading to blame air pollution on warm weather. Hot summer temperatures are a fact of life in Sydney and smog can only be formed if the precursor pollutants have been discharged into the atmosphere. It is clear that vehicle use is the major and growing source of smog precursors."

"Unless this trend is reversed by promoting more effective and reliable public transport Sydney can expect more long hot summers of worsening air quality". Mr Angel said