WEBVTT - Building a tunnel under Perth could be the solution to the Carillon City development disruption

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<v Speaker 1>There's a the City of Perth a considering a traffic tunnel.

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<v Speaker 1>I've never heard of this before, considering a traffic tunnel

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<v Speaker 1>under the city. Professor Peter Newman from kurt Uni Professor

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<v Speaker 1>of Sustainability joins us. Now, hi, Peter, how are you good.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm fine, And it's a traffic tunnel just to get

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<v Speaker 2>trucks in to help build the site. It's not going

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<v Speaker 2>to be a long term traffic tunnel. So it's a

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<v Speaker 2>bit different to what you quite thought. I had to

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<v Speaker 2>have a quick look at it because it worried me.

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<v Speaker 2>We're going to try and build a great big road

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<v Speaker 2>under Perth, which would be a real waste of money.

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<v Speaker 2>And you've felt that too.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, They're not cheap, are these things. So this is

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<v Speaker 1>under the Murray Street more connects the Forest Place Basement

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<v Speaker 1>Reserve with the new basement area of the proposed Carethian development. So, Peter,

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<v Speaker 1>you're hearing that it's just for construction traffic.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, it's construction only. And look, it's a very important

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<v Speaker 2>development this Karellian city. I think it's a missing link.

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<v Speaker 2>There's now a lot more pedestrians in Perth than cars.

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<v Speaker 2>It's for the first time for a hundred years, you

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<v Speaker 2>can say that. So people are coming pouring in from

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<v Speaker 2>the railway station and they go through that area and

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<v Speaker 2>they hit the Karelian area. It's hard to get through there,

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<v Speaker 2>it's not very attractive. And then they go through all

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<v Speaker 2>the way to Saint George's Terrace and all those developments

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<v Speaker 2>and Forrest, the Elizabeth Key and all that. So the tourists,

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<v Speaker 2>for example, there's nothing much there for them. Haystreet mall's

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<v Speaker 2>been running down, so it does need redevelopment and it

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<v Speaker 2>does need access. So they've come up with a clever

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<v Speaker 2>solution of going under it because there's a whole lot

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<v Speaker 2>of space under there, but there's some that I'll have

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<v Speaker 2>to dig out as well. My problem is that we'll

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<v Speaker 2>have to have a pedestrian strategy to get around it,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, because at the moment that's going to go

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<v Speaker 2>through two of the most frequently used areas, the Forest

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<v Speaker 2>Place and Murray Street more. But so you can't just

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<v Speaker 2>sort of load it up with dirt and junk and

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<v Speaker 2>say where we're trying to make your future better. You're

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<v Speaker 2>going to have to have a place where all the

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<v Speaker 2>pedestrians can easily go around and so that will take

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<v Speaker 2>a bit of doing so it is a challenge, but

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<v Speaker 2>it's not quite a big freeway under the city, all.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, Okay, hey, thanks for thanks for correcting us on

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<v Speaker 1>that one, Peter. Is there anywhere in your consideration in

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<v Speaker 1>the city, in the metro area where a tunnel would

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<v Speaker 1>be helpful? I know they're very expensive. You're often drilling

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<v Speaker 1>and making tunnels in a sort of a water environment.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, you're in marg'reine clay, you're in water. Is

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<v Speaker 1>there anywhere where we might need a tunnel to think?

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<v Speaker 2>Probably? Not. The only thing we really needed was to

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<v Speaker 2>get the train through. That was a very big thing

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<v Speaker 2>and that that caused a lot of controversy at the

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<v Speaker 2>time and a lot of tunnel experts said, oh, it'll

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<v Speaker 2>never work. And of course it's been brilliant and that's

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<v Speaker 2>that's a major part of Perth now, to be able

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<v Speaker 2>to go through the city like that, and you know,

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<v Speaker 2>it's hard to imagine the place without it, and that's

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<v Speaker 2>an important thing to realize. So I don't think there's

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<v Speaker 2>anything much more. I reckon it's all about fixing the

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<v Speaker 2>streets now so that we can have better access for

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<v Speaker 2>pedestrians because they're now the biggest numbers, and that's how

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<v Speaker 2>you make money. That's how you attract housing in more housing,

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<v Speaker 2>more tourists, more activity. Because Perth is needs needing more activity.

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<v Speaker 2>It's it's losing out on that. So we need to

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<v Speaker 2>make it a really attractive place for the future. Peter.

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<v Speaker 1>Last time I spoke to you, I was talking to

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<v Speaker 1>you about the trackless tramp that sat on the city

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<v Speaker 1>of Stealing fore Court for a while and you know

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<v Speaker 1>us federal government money and I think you and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>paraphrasing here, Peter, I apologize. I've got this ring you said.

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<v Speaker 1>This is this is like the mobile phone. This is

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<v Speaker 1>an absolute game change of this one. I don't reckon.

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<v Speaker 1>We're going to get at Peter. And there may be

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<v Speaker 1>some liberal labor politics in all of this.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, interesting one. We talked about this this week. There's

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<v Speaker 2>a study being done on central Perth by the girl

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<v Speaker 2>group from Denmark that has done two other studies before

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<v Speaker 2>that led to Elizabeth Key and lots of other innovations

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<v Speaker 2>in Perth which we love now. So they're good people

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<v Speaker 2>and they're very keen on a trackless tram coming through

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<v Speaker 2>to the city from our curtain way. And then up

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<v Speaker 2>through to the North out to Sterling. Look, it's it's

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<v Speaker 2>growing in acceptance the bottom up processes. The local governments

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<v Speaker 2>love it, the developers love it, the communities love it.

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<v Speaker 2>There's a lot of issues with the bus industry that

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<v Speaker 2>don't particularly want it because they think it's taking over

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<v Speaker 2>from them. All of that has to be worked through,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think it will be because it's it is

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<v Speaker 2>like a mobile phone. You can't you can't go back

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<v Speaker 2>to the old phone systems. This changed our lives. Everybody

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<v Speaker 2>in the world now is this mobile phone, and that

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<v Speaker 2>will happen with these smart systems that are coming in

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<v Speaker 2>with with the public transport. They are so much better.

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<v Speaker 2>They're not just like a diesel bus that's converted to

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<v Speaker 2>run on electricity. It's not. It's a lot better than that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, just a final one from me, a bit of

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<v Speaker 1>chat around about improving the ferry systems on the river.

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<v Speaker 1>We've tried them before and didn't have a great take up.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, perhaps it's hard to get to a ferry terminal.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a little bit slow. People prefer to drive the

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<v Speaker 1>car or use the train. Do you think there's a

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<v Speaker 1>case to expand our ferry systems Peter.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, look, it's a little bit. They could They could

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<v Speaker 2>definitely get better and they'll go up the river a

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<v Speaker 2>bit more around to the area around the Optics Stadium

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<v Speaker 2>and that sort of thing that they have special uses.

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<v Speaker 2>But they're never a mass transit solution. They never are

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<v Speaker 2>going to carry a lot of people because you can't

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<v Speaker 2>get to them easily and it's Perth River winds a lot,

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<v Speaker 2>so it takes a lot of time. No, we're not

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<v Speaker 2>going to be able to compete with how quick to

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<v Speaker 2>get from A to B, which is what transports mostly about.

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<v Speaker 2>Our trains are now showing you can do it better

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<v Speaker 2>than in a car on many of our routes. So

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<v Speaker 2>if you didn't get from South Perth to Perth quicker

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<v Speaker 2>than by going by car, and that would be during

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<v Speaker 2>peak hour, for example, then you know it's got a future.

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<v Speaker 2>And there may be a few more sites like that.

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<v Speaker 2>To UWA for example, was one, But I don't see

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<v Speaker 2>it as a big solution.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah all right, Yeah, I think when we tried it

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<v Speaker 1>back in the day, the PTA tried to Peter and

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<v Speaker 1>they even offered up, you know, free coffee in a

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<v Speaker 1>free newspaper on the the trial and people still didn't

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<v Speaker 1>use it.

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<v Speaker 2>So yeah, you can't bribe people interchanging in the transport.

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<v Speaker 2>And as it's better, we've got to get something better

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<v Speaker 2>and that includes bidding faster and cheaper and better, better

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<v Speaker 2>ride all of that. People are not stupid that they're

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<v Speaker 2>going to choose rather than getting all those incentives. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I look we're getting to grips with these. I think

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<v Speaker 2>the trackless trend, for example, is a better option. It's

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<v Speaker 2>going to be cheaper and better and faster, and it's

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<v Speaker 2>the kind of thing that will help our main roads

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<v Speaker 2>get better.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, very interesting that you reckon the bus industry doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>like it. Peter, always good to chat. Thank you for

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<v Speaker 1>your time today.