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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-06-02 Daily Xml
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O-Bahn Tunnel

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (15:34): I rise to speak about a fantastic project that is being implemented in South Australia, the O-Bahn City Access project. As members may know—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am on my feet and remind members on my left of the standing orders and the fact that you are almost all on your second warnings.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You will be on your second warning really quickly if you defy me.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! You are back to the beginning, are you? Alright. You won't take long to get to two. The member for Kaurna.

Mr PICTON: Deputy Speaker, I know you know this, but members opposite seem to be interjecting, that the O-Bahn is the most successful form of public transport in South Australia. It is sad to say that more people use it than the Seaford rail which obviously I am very accustomed to—

An honourable member: So far.

Mr PICTON: So far, and that is, of course, increasing all the time thanks to the investment that this government has made in that. We have invested close to a billion dollars in the Seaford rail line and I think it is fair enough that north-eastern suburbs residents should have investment in their public transport, particularly since we know that 31,000 people use the O-Bahn to get to and from work in this city every day. That is over 1,000 buses going up and down the O-Bahn and trying to get into the city.

Of course, it is a great system but it is only a great system once you get to Hackney and get on the O-Bahn. Before that it is like any other bus trying to fight its way through eastern suburbs peak-hour traffic. I think it is vital that we invest in fixing this problem and separating those 1,000 buses from that peak-hour traffic. This project will, of course, involve a 500-metre tunnel under key intersections and a bus priority lane on Hackney Road.

What is the problem we are trying to fix here? The speed limit across Botanic Road is 60 km/h and on North Terrace it is 50 km/h. How fast do morning O-Bahn buses travel along these roads? Not 50, not 40, not 20, not even 10 km/h. These buses are travelling at the moment at 8 km/h, just eight. Now, compare that to a brisk power walk. Anyone who has used a treadmill would know that 8 km/h is not that fast and that a walker would beat the bus.

I thought: what about other animals? I am informed that a backyard chicken can travel at a top speed of 14.5 km/h. If you line up an average backyard chicken and our most well-patronised form of public transport at 8am Monday at the National Wine Centre, the chicken would make it to Frome Road (700 metres away) two minutes and 21 seconds quicker than the O-Bahn bus at the moment.

An honourable member: Why would it cross the road?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PICTON: So we are talking here about much more than a few minutes to be gained by O-Bahn commuters on this project. The estimates are that this will mean a saving of some 20 minutes peak-hour delay every day, which is almost two hours a week or some 86 hours a year stuck in unnecessary traffic. Sometimes the delays can be much worse, and surveys have them up to 30 minutes every day. This is because the O-Bahn currently competes with thousands of cars that have one passenger each on the same roads trying to use the same traffic lights.

That is time that thousands of South Australians could be spending quality time with their children, out walking their dog or volunteering for community groups—but, no, they are stuck in traffic. Not to mention the delays every year in the lead-up to the Clipsal 500 race, delays which will be substantially eased for O-Bahn users in the future because of this project.

It will also encourage more car users to leave their cars at home and catch the O-Bahn to work, further reducing traffic snarls. We know that when public transport gets more reliable more people will use it and when it gets faster more people will use it. No wonder this project has received such a positive cost-benefit review, showing that for every $1 we spend on it there will be $1.60 worth of benefits for the state.

What about the protesters we saw on the weekend? I heard one report that there was some thousand people protesting this on the weekend, although when you look at the photo of this protest—

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: They just wanted to get face painting.

Mr PICTON: That's right; they might be face painting, the member for Newland said. When you look at the photos it looks much more like 150 to 200 people who were there. This anti-public transport protest was supposedly to protect the Parklands, but guess what: the Parklands will be bigger after this project. There will be a new road but a bigger existing road will be returned to the Parklands, so it will be a net plus for Adelaide's Parklands. That is a net 3,500 square metres more space going into the Parklands, something that some of these protesters seem to forget.

This will also mean more space for Fringe and other community events right at the feet of our East End business precinct, because we want the Parklands to be not just preserved for the exclusive few but to be used and enjoyed by people from all over South Australia, not just those who live in the immediate precinct. Despite what people may have heard, as well, Rymill Park will still be there. It will still be accessible for families and still be a great place to relax with your family.

I was a bit surprised to see some of the people who were there at the anti-public transport protest, including members of the Greens party. I hope they can turn around their view on this.

Time expired.

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