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Public Transport: Melbourne Versus Sydney

My great friend Brett absolutely kills it in an op-ed on Sydney's lagging transportation system in today's Sydney Morning Herald. George Carlin and David Simon would both be proud.

Even Sydney's overwhelming successes, roads like the Eastern Distributor and M2 that remove thousands of cars from local streets, were met with fierce opposition when proposed.

It's our city's favourite sport - trying to stop progress.

The sad reality is that successive governments have been able to get away with failing to act because noisy action groups have put themselves before the common good. Too often the government has paid heed to them instead of the broader community interest.

Only in NSW are transport plans announced in the morning papers and killed by 9am the same day. Taken out by a combination of feckless ministers, furious talkback radio hosts, and everyone playing the great Sydney pastime of, "not in my backyard".

The looming transport blueprint will, hopefully, provide Sydneysiders the chance to grow up. They should look at what the plan contains and discuss it in a calm rational way rather than the default position of outrage that too often masquerades as policy debate in this city.

Building infrastructure to benefit the whole city will entail individual losers. It's a fact of life we need to accept. For too long on too many projects we've let the noisy minority stop progress for the silent majority. Until we have a government and a community prepared to deal with the difficult choices - and compromises - involved in all major infrastructure projects, it will be easier for governments of all persuasions to do nothing.

Unfortunately, while I'm waiting for the plan to be released, I feel like the starter of a car race: Sydneysiders start your whingeing.

via Stuck at a bus stop with nothing but NIMBYs in sight | Brett Gale.