20 October 2021 a majority of Sunshine Coast Councillors voted to keep light rail as one of the five options in the Mass Transit Options Analysis Report to be referred to the State Government despite the known community opposition. This was not a unanimous decision.
Council advised that it anticipates that the State Government will start reviewing the Options Analysis Report in the coming weeks, with preparation of a Detailed Business Case anticipated to get underway in 2022.
There are nine options in the Options Analysis to meet the transport needs of the coastal corridor. These include:
- business as usual
- road-wide network upgrades in the coastal corridor
- region-wide bus service enhancements
- region-wide bus network upgrades
- quality bus corridor
- Bus Rapid Transit
- Light Rail Transit
- Trackless tram
- Wireless Light Rail System (identical to the light rail option, minus the overhead wires, with on-board batteries and charging equipment at select stations)
The State Government and Council have funded this consultation project. Think about the extra traffic congestion there will be if you take lanes of traffic out of those corridors. The money needs to be put into the right planning and move on with building the right infrastructure, and that requires an integrated transport plan that also addresses road congestion and cars.
What’s next…. the State Government will review the options provided by the Sunshine Coast Council to make the final decision. I will fight for the right integrated transport plan for the Sunshine Coast and I do not believe that Light Rail is the right option and there are better options which will better meet our region’s needs.
The Sunshine Coast desperately needs to progress the fast rail from Maroochydore to Brisbane on the CAMCOS route to connect us within the Sunshine Coast as well as to Brisbane and SEQ, particularly with the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games and the growth that is already rapidly happening regardless of this event.
Liveability on the Sunshine Coast and having alternative transport to cars requires better roads, rail and buses to connect people. There is a big difference between FAST rail and LIGHT rail, if you want to know more CLICK HERE.
I am also running a petition to call on the Queensland State Government to build the heavy passenger rail (fast rail) to connect Maroochydore to Brisbane via the CAMCOS heavy rail corridor. To get onboard and sign the petition CLICK HERE
I will say again that we need an integrated transport plan with the RIGHT INFRASTRUCTURE, currently that is not the case.
21 June 2021 – My Submission to Sunshine Coast Council
28 April 2021 – Sunshine Coast Daily: What we know about Council’s major mass transit survey