Climate Action Merribek joined with a wide range of other civil society organisations to submit a joint statement on the National Transport and Infrastructure Roadmap, to support a transport system that is free of fossil fuels, affordable, equitable, safe, accessible, resilient and reliable.

After electricity production, transport emissions are the next most concerning sector, and the emissions from transport sector are at the moment growing.

Action: Climate Council have a template email to send to the Victorian State Transport minister: HELP US ASK FOR CLEANER, CHEAPER TRANSPORT

The joint statement on the National Roadmap makes three major recommendations, but please read the full statement for the full text (as attached below)

1. Avoiding unnecessary travel should be the first priority. This should be supported through principles identified in the Draft National Urban Policy, including higher density urban design and the provision of services closer to local communities and homes.
2. We must shift towards cleaner, more efficient modes of transporting people and goods – that are also affordable and accessible to people experiencing a disadvantage. Enabling mode shift to greater use of public, shared and active transport to, where practical, move away from the use of private cars is essential to reduce emissions for passenger transport and also would improve health outcomes, reduce congestion, save people money, create more jobs, and contribute to more connected communities.
3. Technological solutions to reduce the carbon emissions of transport modes need to be deployed at speed and scale, but have to be in combination with avoid and shift measures. Avoid and shift measures have the least cost, most benefit, and reduce emissions the fastest, and thus should be allocated sufficient funding and resourcing.

Climate Action Merribek submission

This adds to our own submission on the National Transport and Infrastructure Roadmap made in December 2023: Submission on Federal Government Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap and Action Plan.

In April 2023 we refreshed our strategy document: Transport Policy in Merri-bek for the Climate Emergency (2023 refresh), which articulates actions we want to see at the Federal, State, northern Melbourne region, and Merri-bek Council municipal level.

Climate Council Transport Advocacy

We note the recent advocacy work of the Climate Council in its latest report focussed on shared and active transport– Next Stop Suburbia: Making Shared Transport Work for Everyone in Aussie Cities’ . It actually mentions, and not in a positive way, the suburbs of Fawkner, Campbellfield and Broadmeadows. We included the key findings of this report in our blog post on the Barrow Street Modal filter road closure trial.

Action: Climate Council have a template email to send to the Victorian State Transport minister: HELP US ASK FOR CLEANER, CHEAPER TRANSPORT

See also the May 2023 Climate Council report on Shifting gear: The path to cleaner transport. The Climate Council argue in this report and an associated media release that Trips on Public Transport, Walking and Riding must triple to see Genuine Transport Emissions Reduction .

References

Climate Action Merribek, 21 December 2023: Submission on Federal Government Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap and Action Plan https://climateactionmerribek.org/2023/12/21/submission-on-federal-government-transport-and-infrastructure-net-zero-roadmap-and-action-plan/

Climate Action Merribek, 21 April 2023, Transport Policy in Merri-bek for the Climate Emergency (2023 refresh) https://climateactionmerribek.org/2023/04/18/transport-policy-in-merri-bek-for-the-climate-emergency-2023-refresh/

The Climate Council, 8 July 2024, ‘Next Stop Suburbia: Making Shared Transport Work for Everyone in Aussie Cities’, https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/next-stop-suburbia/

The Climate Council, 23 May 2023, Shifting gear: The path to cleaner transport. https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/shifting-gear-the-path-to-cleaner-transport/