Transport them out of already overcrowded cities (look mum, tinned people) by the simplicity of introducing a zonal tax system.

After that, we need to make far better use of current corridors. The green space that separates multilane commuter highways is an ideal site to hang monorails.

And should find plenty of willing customers if joe public can see them passing all and sundry. Moreover, the same corridors. Green separation areas will support an underground system that requires no new land resumption.

After tax zones, we need rapid rail and deionisation dialysis desalination to guarantee safe abundant potable water.

Very little of this would be possible without an energy policy that needs must include MSR thorium!

In fact, trying to fix congestion and overcrowding needs more than new rules! But rather a whole raft of new ideas and pollies not in developers' or big bank's pockets!?

Furthermore, we need a few with a better grasp of what is required. And thinking a little bigger than that required for local government. And a natural home for "leaders" and bean counters unable to think big or encompass the big picture.
Alan B.

Alan mentions the fact that expensive to the taxpayer, highly subsidised by the tax payer public transport is used mostly by the highly paid city centre workers to get to work. This leaves the usually less well paid workers to find their own way to their work, outside the city centre at their own expense. This expense increased by huge fuel excise & tax take, to pay for the subsidised public transport.

If he wants to get some equity into the mix, first all public transport must become full cost recovery, then perhaps fuel should be subsidised for the workers who have no public investment in infrastructure to help their travel.

I then wonder just how many new public hospitals he plans to include in this investment mix to cover the huge accident rate of 2 wheeled transport. Just watching one session of 24 hours in emergency would educate him on this.

Oh & while you're at it Alan, keep your hands off the motorists roads. He has paid through the nose in fuel taxes & council rates for those, & is entitled to keep them. If you want bike lanes, charge registration for bikes, & use the money to buy land & build them. Don't expect the tax payer to fund the infernal things either.

What is it with these planning people, who want to turn our rather hilly cities into poor copies of Amsterdam?

Eventually, through sheer need they'll wake up to the logic of Monorail ! Forget tunnels & bridges & parking. Imagine the parking space available UNDER a Monorail infrastructure instead of BESIDE the railway stations at present ?
When will our city planners get educated to think ?

As usual I think you are all oversimplifying things.
Personally, I can't stand 'public transport'.
It is too slow and does not cater to everyone and everything.
For those who work at a 'fixed site' job, fine you arrive at work in the morning and depart at night.
Same goes with city shoppers.
But if your one of the many trades and service industry, forget it.
So then you have catered to a minority, AGAIN.
No I say stop catering to the minority and look at the bigger picture.
One of those minorities is the bicycle brigade.
GO AWAY, is the best advice I can give.
Because these people feel entitled for some reason they carry on like petulant children and their case is just as frivolous.
All non motorised vehicles should avail themselves of the footpaths and the millions of dollars worth of cycle/pedestrian ways scattered throughout the cities.
But no, the sh!theads have to ride on the road, well I for one hope they keep getting injured or killed as the case may be till they get it through their stupid heads that, bike versus pedestrian, medical attention at worst.
Bike versus car, hmm, let's see, worst case scenario, DEATH!
How stupid are you.
Bicycles should be taken off major flowing arteries and moved to slower/safer back streets.
End of.
We should not be discussing transport in our capital cities.
We should be discussing de-centralising businesses outside and beyond the cities.
One look at the USA and you will see huge warehouses and distribution points located outside major cities, but alongside major freeways and highways.
Many production factories have also moved out.
The land is a fraction of the city prices and people can easily afford a house close to work.
We have to stop this city mentality, and focus on personal prosperity and success.
So instead of trying to squeeze more crap in an already crappy city, how about we look at improving the country roads into major freeways instead and maybe people will embrace the rural lifestyle instead of this pathetic version of an urban one.

I'd like to see Monorail as an eventual transport artery linking the States' major centres.
Cargo and, if needed, semi trailers could be transported closer to their final destinations then hook up the prime mover & job done. Passengers, cargo, fuel, mail etc could all be moved along the some route at eventual heavily reduced cost. Even water pipelines could be included. Such a project could be utilising National Service to a great extent.
A Monorail network could be an affordable, gradually expanding project.
All it needs is people in authority with a sense of Nation building. Start building & they will come !

personally if people choose to live in populated cities they should put up with some inconvenience. Plenty of jobs in the bush.

Individual, NO to monorail. We already have railroads across the country and the cities.
Freight and semi's and all the things you mention are already being moved by rail, and have been for decades.
No the answer is not to further conjest what is an already choking city, and I mean ALL cities.
As it goes 'build it and they will come'.
Build the factories in rural areas and the workers will come.
It may not suite everyone, then again, it will suite some.
It won't take many.
Even mining companies employ a mix of people,such as FIFO and locals.
And don't forget they are working in some of the most insane environments in the world.
The beauty of going rural is that you can still be near the metropolitan area and not compromise your social or family life.
The weather would be the same as the urban weather because of proximity.
So I do not advocate the introduction of more useless public transport ideas, we have enough.
If you really want to help then send Wilson Parking bankrupt and give us back our parking spaces, instead of these mongrels hi-jacking them and holding them for ransom for the public to pay them 'dirty' money, for a dis-service.

Altrav,
I'm very disappointed that you simply don't get it !

Indy, I'm not sure what you mean.
Perhaps I've misunderstood your views.
I am happy to review in prece form.
Let me know.

What I'm trying to get through is that everything I'm proposing here is not for now & for me.
I'm near the end of the road & that's why I deeply believe in restoring some decency in society that my generation has so abused & all but destroyed before it actually is too late for the next generation to even grasp what our generation is denying them just because of greed.
As much as people like to think that the digital age is the future they need to realise humanity is not digital although one digit of our anatomy can send a very distinct message.
Humans need to be shown the way to revert to being humane people.
The lack of responses to important issues is saddening to say the least.

OK Indy, fair enough, got it.
I suppose I was also proposing the future, but my future is more decentralised than yours.
The proposals I hear are focused on the inner cities and trying to make them more accessible and user friendly.
I tend towards moving out of the cities where the land is cheaper and also have many more advantages.
I am mindful of the fact that unlike the US, our only 'useful' land is along the coastal strips, but with the introduction of new technology and future thinking, it will be possible.

Once the areas away from the cities are made livable, many people will leave the city & its life restricting conditions for those who yearn for a less regulated existence.
Of course we must work on solutions to prevent over population at all times. Overpopulation is a greater threat than climate change as it brings pollution & aggression & ultimately uncontrollable decease.
Australia could show the way in curbing overpopulation for other countries to follow suit.
All we need is a willing society to band together in working for the future now. Calling projects of vision too expensive is the wrong way to go. Just look at the present Nth Qld floods & what all that water could have done for inland Australia if only a Bradfield type scheme was already in progress. Imagine how much less flood damage there'd be in Townsville. Imagine how much livestock could have been saved if only a small move were made towards the irrigation west of the GDR. Imagine what could be achieved with slightly less greed & selfishness. Imagine if the periodically flooding rivers were made wider with weirs. Dig out & use the material to build up higher ground for any new subdivision on flood prone land.
Imagine the savings on insurance payouts, imagine the savings from no flood damage.

City transport is directly affected by what's happening outside the city. Less road traffic, more space by the ground area saved by gradually building a monorail network. Such a project could be started in the most heavily congested areas thence spread in a spider web fashion to the suburbs & beyond. Many other services such as power, water & communication could be incorporated in a Monorail design. Ease of access for maintenance, no flooding, no inaccessible tunnels & subways. Imagine the cost savings there in the long run ?
It just requires a handful of thinkers to think past their bank accounts for a while.

As a retired train driver heavily involved with the electrification of the Perth Metro system, I do believe I have some first hand knowledge of what needs to be done to improve our public transport systems.
Firstly, we must recognise the FACT, that our States receive massive amounts of money from owners of every automobile on the roads today. Even if they just stay parked in their garages, they still provide massive amounts of funding to the state via Stamp Duty, G.S.T. Excise on fuel, taxes on certain vehicles considered luxury vehicles, and taxes plus GST on every part you buy for your car or cars. To the State Governments our cars are a gold mine that just keeps on giving.
Therefore for anyone to even consider a proper public transport system we must also give thought to replacing that income source if they sell their vehicles and go for public transport. Then we also need to consider from where will states source income that is lost in this manner ? We're already facing this with the influx of electric vehicles and still no reasonable solution has been found.
When the above has been resolved, only then can we again approach the issue of public transport honestly.
One thing is for certain, states cannot keep increasing the charges to the public to travel on these systems. Further, given the cost of installing and maintaining systems for fare paying and also considering the majority of public systems are subsidised by the taxpayer to a large degree the funds released from the fare paying systems by allowing ALL TRAVEL ON PUBLIC SYSTEMS TO BE FREE, would go a long way to be equitable.

Itchy,
You are making a very valid point. My view is that a Monorail network could be a solution to many problems plaguing our transport system. It would be environmentally good, it would alleviate road traffic congestion, it'd would make delivery of other services such as water & fuel etc cheaper & easier because all these could be incorporated in the one system, no need for bridges or tunnels, no road crossings, freeing up area for car parks in cities, the list goes on.
As far as cost goes, a Monorail system would cost no more than traditional rail systems & could be future-proofed from day 1.
Imagine going to work on a Monorail & viewing the scenery in comparison to being cooped up in underground coffins on wheels.