There’s a simple way to get dozens of cars off Orange streets each day and avoid building more costly car parks. It’s called carpooling. Sharing a ride, saving fuel and saving money.
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By having more people using one vehicle to get to work each day, carpooling reduces fuel costs and is a more environmentally-friendly way to travel because sharing trips reduces carbon emissions, traffic congestion and the need for parking spaces.
A snap survey shows that every day in Orange more than 400 single-occupant cars park in Anson Street between Kite and Moulder streets, Kite Street between Lords Place and Sale Street, Moulder Street between Peisley and Sale streets, and Sale Street between Kite and Moulder streets.
There’s dozens more in Endsleigh Aveune near the Department of Primary Industries building.
That’s not including cars in streets on the northern side of Summer Street or in the various car parks that are used by mostly single-occupant employees.
Carpooling could also be used to advantage by out-of-towners who drive to work in Orange every day and by Charles Sturt University students.
People might only want to share a ride once a week, or just every now and then, but any carpooling would have positive outcomes for Orange.
Australia’s first regional carpool network was launched in the Northern Rivers community based at Lismore eight years ago and has now been followed on the Mid North Coast and in Sydney.
Northern Rivers has 2,475 registered members with similar travel patterns who take it in turns using their cars.
There’s a free web service that people can securely log on to and provide their travel details for transport matches to be found.
And priority parking is available for Northern Rivers carpoolers in public car parks, another good reason for people to get involved in the initiative, funded by NSW Transport and Infrastructure, Lismore, Ballina, Byron, Clarence, Richmond and Tweed councils, Southern Cross University, North Coast TAFE and North Coast Area Health Service.
So it’s really worth Orange City Council having a look here.
SKIPPY IS A GROWING HAZARD, AUTHOR CLAIMS
ONE of our icons is causing havoc on the roads because the long paddock is the only place hungry kangaroos can find a bit of tucker.
NRMA Insurance says kangaroos account for 83 per cent of all animal collisions on roads.
That’s the highest in the country, with more than 12,000 claims received, a nine per cent increase from 2016.
Orange is well up the list, with 115 kangaroo hits in 2017 and dozens more so far this year, and that’s just from one insurance company.
Dubbo tops the list with 197.
People insured with NRMA, and no doubt other companies, face a $695 excess on their claims but that can be waived if it’s a not-at-fault accident.
The NRMA says a “driver must prove no fault and be able to provide the name and address of a person that we agree is at fault”.
Well, as one presently claiming, what about this?
The kangaroo hopped out of nowhere in front of the car, his name is Skippy, and his address is Bowen Park Road.
Shouldn’t that be enough information for the NRMA to waive the excess?
