Bus plan is blueprint for 'soulless carpark'
The Barnett Government should seek private cash to build a light-rail system, a leading infrastructure expert has urged.
Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University, also lambasted plans for a network of large and fast buses across Perth.
He said the city would be consigned to a bitumen and carpark future that would make Perth more like Las Vegas if the Government picked mega-buses over a tram system.
Professor Newman said the benefits of rail were evident in the way the city had developed and shed its "dullsville" title as more than 100,000 people entered Perth every day.
He said rail and light rail delivered much more in terms of people movement, land values and development than buses ever could. The same groups backing buses had backed replacing the Fremantle rail line with buses in the 1970s.
He said abandoning light rail would lock Perth into becoming a soulless city like Las Vegas.
"If you want a city like Las Vegas, which has no real centre, has an economy based on frivolous consumption and has none of the new knowledge economy, then go for buses," he said.
Professor Newman said the money earmarked for the fast-bus system could contribute to a private-public partnership to build a light-rail system.
He said the Transport Department had failed Perth by not looking at other options and only backing those over which it had total control.
He said suggestions the bus system could be replaced by light rail in the future did not stand up.
"You can't build the busway and then expect to remove it and upgrade to light rail after," Professor Newman said.
