Petrol price pushes the park-and-ride phenomena

Handing out the paper at railway stations, you can't help but notice the extraordinary amount of informal "park-and-ride" that's sprung up over the last couple of years. Go to any Sydney station where unrestricted parking is available within 400 metres and you'll see what I mean. People who live beyond walking distance from a station and who used to drive to work are trying to cut down their petrol expenditure whenever possible.

Bardwell Park station, on the East Hills line is a pretty spectacular example. Nowadays, Powys Avenue, a short stroll from the station entrance, gets parked out early. So does Bray Avenue which is off Hartill-Law avenue, on which the station entrance is located. Up a steep hill towards Earlwood shops, there's a large free parking area about 400m from the station. For the last quarter century, it's been almost empty for most of the day. It was too far from the shops to ever get much use. Now, however, it's almost full from 8.45m until 5pm.

Engadine, on the Illawarra line, is another extraordinary case, with cars parked for hundreds of metres down both sides of the Princes Highway.

Outer Sydney especially needs many more big park-and-ride (and bike-and-ride) stations, a solution advocated by Dr Garry Glazebrook in his 30 Year Plan. But these should be built to new specifications. They should have level floors and more ceiling hight than the usual parking station so they can be converted to other uses a few short years down the track when peak oil has reduced car use.

The parking phenomena is also a good argument for a serious trial of short-range feeder bus services in the morning and afternoon peaks. These would pick up passengers from only a kilometre or two (at most) from stations. They'd use mini-buses running on a continuous set loop, without a timetable, picking up anywhere except within 300 metres of stations. They ought to be free, but maybe people could just pop 50c in an honour box, or something like that.

An enterprising government, keen to find new ways to get people to work and reduce their car-dependence, would have tried this one out ages ago.