<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> A new report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has encouraged the Abbott Government to reconsider its decision to fund urban road projects over public transport. </span> <p>Analysis by PwC into the economic growth in regions along Sydney’s Epping to Chatswood rail link has shown the potential impact a new public transport line can have on economic activity.<br /><br />The Macquarie Park and Marsfield region contributed $4.68 billion in gross output in the 2001/02 financial year, and was the fifth-largest localised economy in NSW.<br /><br />In 2012/13, it contributed a gross output of $9.11 billion, making it the third-largest localised economy in the state, behind only the city’s CBD and North Sydney.<br /><br />The key contributor to that, according to PwC, was the construction of the 13km Epping to Chatswood railway, which commenced in November 2002 and was completed in February 2009.<br /><br />“The introduction of public transport to expand access to labour markets accelerated and enhanced the already strong growth in the area,” the analyst said in its new report, Better Public Transport, Better Productivity.<br /><br />“Macquarie Park was one of the fastest growing economies prior to the opening of the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link. Part of this is due to movement and decisions made by firms upon commencement of construction to locate to the area.<br /><br />“Upon opening of the rail line, the growth in Macquarie Park accelerated further, bucking the broader national and NSW trends of weak economic growth and contracting employment across this period.”<br /><br />PwC estimates the compound annual growth rate of economic activity between 2009 and 2013 in the Macquarie region was 6.7%, up from 5.3% in the seven years prior to that – an even more impressive feat when the global financial crisis of 2009 is taken into account.<br /><br />The analyst recommended in its report that policymakers look to “maximise the productive capacity of existing public transport infrastructure assets by exploring and testing all governance, regulatory or operating changes that could lead to the more efficient and effective use of this asset base”.<br /><br />PwC also recommended “all decisions on transport investment by both federal and state governments are underpinned by rigorous, transparent cost-benefit analysis”.<br /><br />“Federal transport funding should be modally-neutral and support both road and public transport infrastructure projects based on the outcomes of cost-benefit analysis and the needs of the modern economy,” PwC concluded.</p>
