Radical route to gridlock-free cities

SCHOOL starting times would be staggered and congestion charges trialled under a radical plan to unclog Australia's congested capital cities.

A taskforce of eight key transport, planning and health industry bodies will tomorrow night release a 130-page report warning Australian cities are in crisis, as creaking urban infrastructure fails to keep pace with our growing population.

User-pays fees like tolls, congestion and heavy vehicle charges should be expanded to fund investments in roads, rail and public transport, according to the Moving Australia 2030 report, to be launched by the federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.

Innovative ways to ease congestion are recommended, including getting parents to drop children at to school at different times, increased use of telework, stamp duty and insurance premium reductions on car-share schemes, incentives for car pooling and extending programs that encourage people to walk to work.

Taskforce spokesman Michael Apps told News Limited that all Australian cities were beset by the same congestion problems that led Julia Gillard to campaign in Western Sydney last week.

"Our capital cities are in crisis and national leadership is required," he said.

Australians are being forced into their cars because of a lack of public transport options, the report says, exposing them to rising petrol prices and the health effects of physical inactivity.

Staggering start and finish hours of schools would help alleviate the twice-daily school rush, Mr Apps said.

"Everyone drops their kids off and picks their kids up at exactly the same time, which also coincides with the start of our work times.

"Congestion in every capital city effectively drops off by 5 percent in school holidays, which actually clears you a lot of road space.

"Clearly if you can stagger the start times, and schools can look at what is best for their own communities and parents, they may be able to come up with new and innovative ways to do it.

Different schools within the same area could elect to start at different times between 7 am and 9am. Within schools, different year groups could also be staggered to start at different times.

"It's really about spreading the peak time to manage the impact of congestion," Mr Apps said.

The report predicts that by 2030, Australia will be home to five million more people. It says congestion costs will soar from $9.4 billion a year now to $20 billion a year by 2020.

Congestion charges, which use number-plate recognition technology to track and charge cars entering busy CBD areas, were a key recommendation of the Ken Henry review.

However, the taskforce says congestion charging should only be established if revenue funded public transport.

Physical inactivity costs Australia $13.8 billion a year, the report finds. Even among people who live less than 5km from their workplaces, 70 per cent drive.

The taskforce comprises eight industry bodies including the Bus Industry Confederation, the Australasian Railway Association, the Tourism and Transport Forum, the Planning Institute Australia and the Heart Foundation.

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