| Free transport proposal nipped in the bud |
 A NSW Labor backbencher's radical proposal to make public transport free in Sydney has been quickly nipped in the bud.
Blacktown MP Paul Gibson says the Government needs to think outside the square to reduce Sydney's growing traffic congestion.
"Free public transport is something I've asked the Government to have costed, to see whether it's feasible," he said.
However, the Transport Minister, David Campbell, has firmly ruled out the idea, saying it is unaffordable.
"I don't see that any government in the future would take a decision to have no fares whatsoever," he said.
"The fares is one area of income to the Government as a whole, and if you don't have a billion dollars then it's not available to spend on a range of initiatives, such as the almost 700 new carriages that are on order, the 450 growth buses that are on order and being manufactured."
Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says her party has a vision for free public transport, but now is not the time to make it a reality.
"To remove fares at the moment would be a setback in expanding public transport for those areas of Sydney that do not have it," she said.
She says it is not the cost discouraging people using public transport but the flexibility and convenience of services.
ABC News
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