When will NSW public transport be fully accessible?

Today in Budget Estimates, Abigail pressed the Minister for Transport for a timeline, again, for when the NSW public transport network will be upgraded to be fully accessible.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: Good afternoon, Minister, and to all of you. I just wanted to ask about how we are going with making all of our public transport accessible. You'll recall this is something I ask about at every estimates. I understand that, as of March, we were looking at around 72.6 per cent of all of our suburban, intercity, metro and regional stations being independently accessible. You said last time that we didn't have an actual timeline for making the rest accessible. How have we developed on that?

Ms JO HAYLEN (Minister for Transport): I don't have an update to that percentage, but I'm happy to take that on notice. I'm very pleased that, in the intervening parts of our conversation here and otherwise, our Government has progressed our Safe Accessible Transport program. This is a combination of the former Transport Access Program—the TAP program—and the Commuter Car Park Program. It is an $800-million-plus investment and we have, earlier this year, announced the next seven stations for upgrade and also that there are a number—I think it is 16 or so—in the design phase, just to give you and passengers the reassurance that all of that $800 million will be spent on improving accessibility, particularly for people with disability, across the public transport network.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: Under the DSAPTs signed in 2002, the obligation was on all States and Territories to have all modes of transport, except for trains, fully compliant with accessible standards by 2022. Clearly, we are not at that.

Ms JO HAYLEN: That's correct.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: The previous Government didn't look at it until at least 2019, so you were behind before you even got started. However, what I would hope to see is some sort of schedule or timeline of when those things will be accessible. For example, if I was a person with mobility needs and I wanted to buy a house somewhere, it might not be accessible now, but I might be able to see, on the current trajectory, if we are looking at a five-year horizon or a one-year horizon. Has that work, of doing an audit and then a timeline, been done?

Ms JO HAYLEN: I'll have to come back to you on a longer term timeline.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: ... When you have mobility needs there is a lot of onus and burden on the individual to work out what is and isn't accessible. I'll give you a good example: I was at Tempe train station the other day and, because the community had basically made a big campaign around it, I know that they have a ramp on one side. So people with mobility needs are able to travel in one direction but then, when they come back, they have to get off at a completely different station and get some other mode of transport back. This is an absurd situation for these people.

Ms JO HAYLEN: Yes.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: I'm not asking you to have solved everything, and I'm not saying you've done nothing. Clearly, things are progressing, but people want to know what the timeline is, based on an audit having been done of what needs to be done.

Ms JO HAYLEN: I appreciate that, and I know those steps at Tempe very well. I understand why it is absurd for those passengers, particularly those with disability. Again, I can give clarity on those stations that we have committed to in this round. We do have an across-the-network audit that we'd be able to provide some information on to you. I want to be very clear, though, it doesn't give you a specific timeline on when the steps at Tempe will, instead, be a lift.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: At least it will tell us what is to be done.

Ms JO HAYLEN: Yes.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: I think that's the first step.

3 September 2024

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