But that’s what’s happening now with the Future Transport 2056 draft plan currently open for comment. 

A few things earmarked for the region look promising.

With the new XPTs on the way, the concern has been that any time savings between Orange and Sydney will be lost because the tracks will still be windy and slow.

This plan promises track upgrades as far as Parkes, as well as better coach services for better connectivity between towns.

The Orange-Bathurst and Orange-Dubbo corridors have been given particular mention and most of the region’s major roads have also made the list for improvements. 

This is where it gets tricky.

The report does not cover what kind of rail upgrades will happen where, or exactly when – all we know is it might happen sometime in the next 10 years and we don’t know whether there will be timetable changes. 

As for the coach services, we don’t know exactly which towns will be connected, how frequently and at what time of day. 

And because some of these highways are hundreds of kilometres long, simply saying ‘improvements’ gives little clue as to where they will happen, what the upgrades would be or when in the next 40 years they might occur.

The Bells Line Expressway isn’t even there. 

That’s not to say this draft plan is a failure. 

But it does mean that anyone who catches a coach or train or drives a car has a responsibility to outline their priorities – which projects are needed when? Do we need a morning train or bus to Dubbo? Should the planned rail electrification to Bathurst be extended to Orange? Where are the problem spots on the roads?

So often, documents like these are placed on exhibition and receive few submissions.

That’s taken to mean that no one cares and the authority can get on with what it thinks the most important projects are.

Future Transport will be in Orange on Thursday in Robertson Park between 10am and 3pm to talk about the draft and it is also online. 

If we’re serious about improving our public and private transport options, this is the chance. ​