MINISTER for Transport Troy Buswell has indicated multi-storey car parking facilities could be the best way to relieve the parking pressure at train stations along the Mandurah train line.
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Speaking on Tuesday morning at Bendigo Bank Stadium in Mandurah, Mr Buswell said there was a need to consider the parking eyesores in an effort to keep up with demand.
“There is almost a level of demand that is impossible to meet for parking,” he said.
“I think we are going to have to look at multi-storey in due course although there is an added cost for multi-storey which we are looking at, at the moment.”
Describing the growth of the Mandurah train line as “unbelievable”, Mr Buswell said the train line was to blame for the parking congestion.
“In a way it is a victim of its own success,” he said.
“There’s got to be better ways.”
While Mr Buswell said there was no doubt the Mandurah train line had been a successful public transport investment, he said the Government was struggling to meet the parking demands.
“We put 500 new car parking bays at Cockburn which were full by 9.30am,” he said.
Residents in Mandurah are experiencing earlier pain than 9.30am with the majority of parking bays, especially those without charge, full by 7.30am.
Mr Buswell said too many living near the train station were opting to drive rather than walk or cycle to catch the services on offer.
“A large percentage of people - a surprisingly large percentage - were travelling within a kilometre,” he said after research was conducted into who was parking at the stations.
Mr Buswell told the crowd of more than 70 cycleways may be an option to consider encouraging those travelling via public transport to get to the station without the congestion.
“I don’t mean just parking in those sheds,” he said.
“We would look at dedicated cycleways.”
According to Public Transport Authority figures, more than 20 million boardings were made on the Mandurah train line for the 2011/12 financial year.
