Wind your clocks back 50 years

It's the time of year when some states move their clock back 1 hour. Unfortunately, in Queensland it looks like the clocks are about to be wound back 50 years to the 1960s (although Campbell Joh Bjelke Newman appears to be taking Brisbane back to the 1970/80s anyway).

In the 1960s roads were the king with low oil prices resulting in public transport heading into temporary decline around the world for a few decades. However, in the last few decades most sensible countries have realised that building more roads just results in more road congestion, and that public transport has a major role in environmentally sustainable transportation. Unfortunately, no-one forgot to tell likely next prime minister Tony Abbott. According to this Courier Mail article (in reference to comments by Tony Abbott on Melbourne's planned rail tunnel) "a Coalition government would expect the states and territories to fund public transport projects out of their own pockets." Federal funding is essential for Brisbane's $4b+ Cross River Rail to be constructed, and Tony Abbott's comments have put the federal LNP opposition at odds against the LNP state government and federal MPs. This is bad news, not just for Brisbane, but for all Australian Cities requiring rail infrastructure projects to move towards a more sustainable transport future.

With Cross River Rail looking increasingly unlikely, some of the world's highest fares, infrequent trains, and Brisbane City Council in denial that their bus network is an inefficient mess, things are looking very bad for Brisbane's public transport users. In fact Brisbane appears to be in a death spiral towards an unsustainable and congested transport future. Welcome back to the 1960s in Queensland!

Meanwhile, over in Auckland, a major rival to Brisbane for businesses in the Asia Pacific region, the bus network review appears to be going well, trains are moving towards 10 minute frequencies, and public transport fares are quite reasonable.