Outer Western Sydney residents face higher car costs due to public transport scarcity

Residents in outer Western Sydney are facing higher car costs due to a scarcity of public transport in the region. For those living in car-dependent suburbs like Wilton, the lack of reliable and frequent public transport options is a major concern.

Caitlin Webster, a resident of Wilton, knows firsthand the challenges of limited public transport. After having a baby earlier this year, she was unable to leave her house for six weeks and was frustrated by the lack of options for getting around. "I was going a bit crazy," Ms Webster said. "Even to get up to our local shops … It would take me over two hours to walk there."

Ms Webster's experience is not unique. The Outer Western Sydney Alliance (OWSA) says that just 12 per cent of residents in the Wollondilly Shire Council area have regular public transport within 400 metres of their home. In Wollondilly and Camden local council areas, residents live almost 9 kilometres from the nearest train station on average.

Penrith Mayor Todd Carney, who chairs OWSA, says that residents in the region are spending about $39,000 a year more on vehicle costs than inner-city residents and often live in multi-car households. "We're looking to take over 30 per cent of the future population growth of Sydney into our region," Cr Carney said. "We just haven't had that underlying infrastructure that's really required to make vibrant and really connected communities."

The OWSA is calling for more investment in rail and bus infrastructure to address the issue. Cr Carney says that the priorities should be funding rail and Sydney Metro links between Tallawong in the north to Campbelltown in the south via the soon-to-open Western Sydney Airport.

New South Wales Transport Minister John Graham says that the government has invested $140 million into business cases for connecting the Sydney Metro from Tallawong to St Mary's and from Bradfield to Campbelltown and Leppington. Mr Graham also says that $302 million has been put into establishing five permanent new bus routes in Narellan, Oran Park and Mount Druitt, which began running in July.

NSW Shadow Transport Minister Natalie Ward says that the Liberal-National Coalition had committed to expanding Sydney Metro and a new Western Sydney City deal to coordinate infrastructure delivery across the three levels of government. "Western and south-western Sydney communities are suffering because transport investment has failed to keep pace with growth," Ms Ward said. "Clearly more investment is needed, but the government seems more focused on spruiking investment in the Hunter than on south-western Sydney."