Year

2004

Degree Name

Master of Arts (Honours)

Department

School of History and Politics - Faculty of Arts

Abstract

Urban areas of today are very often reliant on the private automobile as opposed to a public transport system. This is certainly the case for the Sydney metropolitan area. The result of a large reliance on the private automobile has been high levels of pollution and congested city centres. If this problem is to be controlled, changes have to be made to the way the metropolitan area is being developed. Different ideas have been proposed throughout time in order to secure a lower use of cars. One reoccurring suggestion is the need for more compact, or planned, communities where people find most of the amenities needed, such as homes, jobs, shopping and recreation facilities. If planners and decision makers are able to secure developments where the end result is a lower level of driving, it becomes possible to limit some of the problems cities of today struggle with. A project that has already influenced driving patterns in the Sydney metropolitan area is the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. Arguably the Tunnel has not been any great success, due to it having created an increase in total cross-harbour traffic. Future projects that will also have an impact on driving patterns are the proposed Cross City Tunnel, the proposed extension of the current tramline to Circular Quay, and a new inner city rail line. These latter projects will, however, as opposed to the Tunnel, have a positive impact on people’s driving patterns.

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Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.