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The released the statement below on August 13.

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“Building larger and larger carparks next to railway stations is not the solution to congestion,” says John Coleman, the lead Socialist Alliance candidate for the Woodville ward in the Parramatta local election. “Public transport needs to be planned and maintained to provide a complete alternative to cars — not to encourage even more cars onto the road.”

Coleman is a CityRail worker, a public transport activist and a long-time resident of Granville.

“Planners, environmentalists and transport academics have shown convincingly that building more parking simply encourages more people to use their car,” Coleman said. “In a year, maybe two or three years, all the extra capacity provided by an expanded carpark is full — and we’re back to where we started from — only worse!”

“The only genuine solution is to increase public transport services, particularly bus-feeder services to the train station. What’s needed is more state money for buses that service all areas of the Granville catchment, and are timed to deliver passengers to the train — not five minutes after the train has left!

“If elected, Socialist Alliance councillors would fight to divert money from a worse than useless expansion of the carpark at Granville station and redirect it toward real solutions such as the provision of a genuine public transport network, including buses provided with priority over cars, to give residents a fast, efficient and ecologically sustainable transport system.

“Socialist Alliance councillors would also campaign for Council to fund a trial of free public transport from Granville and other Parramatta city stations, to increase public transport use. If the trial successfully increased public transport use, then it should be made permanent. After all, fares pay only a tiny fraction of the cost of providing public transport services.”