30 Minute City

RDA Illawarra is calling on the NSW Government to commit to the development of an Integrated Multi-Modal Services Plan for the Illawarra amid commuter frustration at peak-hour road congestion. 

New research commissioned by Regional Development Australia (RDA) Illawarra reveals that fewer than 11 percent of Wollongong LGA addresses could access the CBD by rail in 30 minutes. The situation is worse for Shellharbour residents with just 8 percent able to access Stockland Shellharbour by rail in the same time. 

Bus transport in both areas fared better with 46 percent of Wollongong residents able to reach the city within 30 minutes, while 64 percent of Shellharbour residents could reach their local primary centre within the same timeframe. Against this background it is no surprise that only 1.8 percent of the region’s commuters use public transport to get to work.  Implementing an integrated service plan could deliver a 30-minute public transport commute for many more residents. 

RDA Illawarra’s public transport research report by UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility has been released today, and makes five recommendations:  

1. Development of an Integrated Multi-Modal Services Plan for the Illawarra that includes seamless interchange between modes 
2. Customer-centred design thinking should be utilised to develop the Services Plan, which prioritises an intra-regional Illawarra commuter focus 
3. Implementation of the Illawarra Integrated Multi-Modal Services Plan, including changes to the current operator service plan 
4. Provision of Service-driven infrastructure improvements to support the Illawarra Integrated Multi-Modal Services Plan implementation, such as: 
   - Additional East West Link for Shellharbour City Centre Hub (extending 30-minute access from 72% of residents in Shellharbour to 83%, or an additional 4,016 homes 
   - Additional M1 alignment in Services Plan for Wollongong CBD Commute Hub (extending the 30-minute access from 57% Wollongong homes to 66%, or an additional 9,220 homes)
   
5. Integrated ticketing system across all transport modes, utilising Opal-enabled services. 

Scenario modelling in the research shows that introducing or modifying a couple of key routes could deliver a 30-minute journey to more than 13,000 additional addresses in Berkeley, West Dapto and Calderwood.  

Read full report here (“Enabling a 30–Minute City through Public Transport”) and summary presentation here.