Customer-focused, technology-driven services are the future of the transport system in regional NSW, with a 40-year blueprint unveiled.
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Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey yesterday released the Future Transport Strategy in regional NSW, outlining the State’s ongoing commitment to long-term growth and connectivity between regional communities and industry.
Mrs Pavey said months of community and industry consultation ensured the strategy’s priorities reflect those of regional NSW.
“This strategy will guide transport infrastructure over the next 40 years, ensuring our regional communities are connected to regional centres and can thrive well into the future. The strategy outlines 227 projects across regional NSW over the next forty years,” Mrs Pavey said.
Mrs Pavey said advocating for country people to improve connections between regional cities is an important part of any government’s job
“We should be looking at ways to incorporate the budget we’re spending in regional NSW to be more innovative in terms of apps and technology, so that we can have more on-demand services and that’s where we are heading in the next 40 years,” she said.
“Here we are at Kempsey Railway Station, our government is committed to having a new XPT fleet over the next six years – we’ll have the order in by the end of next year. It’s important we have more connectivity in the regions, say between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, so that Kempsey people can have better opportunities to go to universities, or access to health services.
“A lot of our specialists are concentrated in the big regional centres, so we need to be looking at more hub and spoke models.”
Future Transport 2056 moves away from a Sydney-centric transport system to one which reflects how people move around in regional NSW.
Regional NSW is expected to grow by 700,000 people and freight movements are predicted to see a 25 per cent increase across the state by 2056.
To cater for increasing populations and freight movements, the plan looks at the state as a whole transport network and through hub and spoke modelling considers a range of modes to reflect the level of demand and distance travelled across regional NSW.
The plan builds on record spending by the State Government, which locally includes the lifesaving dual carriageway upgrade of the Pacific Highway.
