What does it mean to be green in the context of transport? Does it mean a well maintained hybrid car, a motorbike, carpooling, cycling, hitchhiking or using public transport? Does it mean different things depending on where you live? Almost definitely so!

Sometimes the choices we make to get us from A to B are more about what is available and what is realistic. Imagine for instance living in a little town 15 minutes drive from Byron Bay, where there is limited public transport. In small, spread out communities it’s easy to drive hundreds of kilometres a day, doing the usual daily activities. The school bus service is the most efficient means of public transport but it can mean lengthy trips, especially for kids, and the buses only operate around school hours.

Young people – having left high school – are also highly dependant on public transport as it is quite often their only means of independent travel. Take Danny, 17, for example, he attends TAFE at Murwillumbah about 25 minutes north of his home. He can get the school bus to TAFE, but the last school bus back leaves at 3.40pm, however he finishes at 4.30pm – with no public transport option to get him home.

Other choices are thin on the ground; the three country buses that travel from Brisbane to Sydney through Murwillumbah can’t take a local booking, as the trip is too short. There are regulations that force regional bus services to insist on a minimum trip length. Another alternative is to travel via Byron Bay, a round trip to home approx 2 hours, so not a viable choice. In the end Danny has to rely on family to pick him up – yet another trip for a car.

There used to be a local train service from Casino (near Lismore, inland from Byron Bay) via Bryon Bay to Murwillumbah, but now an inadequate bus service replaces it. A passionate group in the area is lobbying to get the train service back up and running, hoping for it to go all the way to Robina (Gold Coast) and join the Brisbane line. Wouldn’t that be a greener solution? Locals reminisce about days gone by on relaxing train trips around the shire, kids could ride to the train station and take their bikes to school, very green.

It might be an expensive fix but it could prevent driver fatigue, drink driving, lower the incidence of P-plate driver accidents and provide more options for everyone, including the youth and elderly of the area.

Public transport issues aside, how about the hybrid option? A straw poll shows that most people who work in the shire do it for the lifestyle, as incomes are low in comparison to the city. Petrol costs are often higher, rents are comparable to city prices and food can be expensive. Locals utilise gardens and farmers markets to keep costs down but most, including dedicated greenies, cannot afford a hybrid car.

Other options have their own impediments; a motorbike is not always practical or safe, carpooling is limited and involves registering with a minimum age restriction of 18, cycling long distance is for the very fit and brave and for those who are not constrained to a deadline. Hitchhiking is common but once again inherently risky – although a lot of local teenagers and some adults do it because they have no choice.

So try as they might, country folk might be greenies and might like their wheat grass but there is a long way to go before regional transport can be truly green!

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More information about this topic in our transport section

Written By Jeni Cavanagh

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