And that journey to the future has already begun here in Shepparton and Mooroopna with the installation of ‘refuelling stations’ for those electric vehicles, in the first instance, cars.
However, it is right about now that we need to be careful, as this could easily be a commitment to an untenable future.
Rather that throwing our lot in with private transport, maybe we should be rethinking how we move about the place and be considering an electrified public transit system; a system that would, ultimately, be cheaper, more efficient (in every sense) and kinder to our environment.
Of course, our electrified public transport system would be powered by energy derived from renewable sources, such as solar and wind.
The idea of a sophisticated public transit system runs counter to the many ingrained, but not necessarily permanent or fixed ideas that appeal to the individualism, choice or freedom rained down upon us by proponents of the existing economic system.
The beauty of such an electrified public transit system that becomes little more than background noise to our lives is that it allows more of the very things — individualism, choice and freedom — that its doubters/critics accuse it of hindering.
An electrified public transport is a wonderful opportunity in that it would free us from a plethora of present costly concerns allowing us more time and money to invest in enriching both our lives and that of our communities.
The City of Greater Shepparton, just like every other jurisdiction in Australia, was designed, developed and grew around privately owned vehicles, right from the horse and cart era.
That, of course, is no surprise, as there was in those times simply no other way, but that has all changed — we now have options, and those options bring the benefits we search for: a cheaper, more efficient, cleaner, more convenient way of moving about that is friendly to the environment and, importantly and critically, allows for the design of towns and cities in which the emphasis is on people, rather than machines.
Urban designers have known for decades that if a public transit system is to meet the needs of those living in the community, that whatever it is that is going to take people to wherever it is they want to go, must arrive at a nearby pickup point every seven minutes.
And the idea is afoot in other places, with the incoming chief of the Committee for Melbourne arguing more Melburnians need to live within 500 metres of regular public transport to better connect the city’s outer suburbs to the CBD.
That’s a big call for Melbourne, but an even greater challenge for towns and cities with a legacy such as that of Shepparton that have an already less than adequate public transit system.
However, history illustrates that faced with a task that needs doing, humans are resourceful, intuitive, inventive, durable and endowed with traits that make the seemingly impossible, possible — and so our possible electric public transit future awaits.
12°C