Customers at the centre – Economic and community benefits of metro systems

By Stephen Callaghan, Technical Director, Design + Planning

A new metro system can offer significant economic benefits for local communities, such as boosting property values within a certain radius of the new station, or making new land available for development, particularly in central business districts where large sites are in short supply.

Sydney’s new CBD metro stations are in highly-sought-after locations and have generated huge interest among developers. By adopting an integrated approach to planning that brings together transit, property and community considerations, these ‘transit-orientated developments’, or ‘TODs’, can help to revitalise a community or create a brand new precinct.

Amenity and public space

Successful metro stations can play an important role in creating lively, activated and safe precincts that benefit local residents. Great public spaces are accessible, comfortable and sociable. By bringing together transport and urban planning, Sydney Metro is playing a huge role in supporting the creation of great public places and enhancing the various communities it helps to connect.

A successful and integrated precinct is also vital in realising high levels of patronage and encouraging people to leave their cars at home, with benefits for the environment through reduced carbon emissions and for liveability through reduced traffic flows.

Each new metro station provides the opportunity to create a new contextually relevant and vibrant precinct for the local community; a place that can attract visitors, workers and private investment that can further enhance amenity and liveability. This could include facilities for healthcare and community services, such as libraries, childcare facilities, retail and hospitality, to meet the needs of metro users and the local community.

Sydney’s new metro stations will create focal points in the communities that they serve, with new places for people to live, work, shop and play ― and public spaces designed to encourage walking, cycling and social interaction.

Customer-centric design

To enhance public transport services, the customer was at the centre of every decision. This customer-centric approach went beyond those people using the new metro and included many other potential beneficiaries, including local residents around the stations, employers and service providers that would set up in and around the station precincts.

The key design principles for the station precincts were developed by Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) and informed the collaboration between the design, architecture and construction teams working on the project. They will be carried forward by Sydney Metro as a template for future metro project design.

Each station location was considered from the perspective of its place within a town, village or local centre. New precinct streets were created at stations designed to promote ease of pedestrian access and connections.

Planning the North West Metro went beyond the needs of a passenger’s point-to-point journey; it took into account the ‘whole-of-journey’ experience, in an attempt to remove any friction so that metro users could make the transition between different modes of transit, such as bus, bike, car or foot, easily.

The new stations at Castle Hill, Bella Vista, Norwest, Kellyville, Cherrybrook and Hills Showground and the associated change in planning controls have been a catalyst for new commercial and residential developments. For example, the new Tallawong Station 47 km northwest of Sydney provides a transport hub in the heart of the North West Growth Centre, supporting residential growth in Rouse Hill and the surrounding areas. Thousands of commuters who would have previously relied on cars and buses to access the centre of Sydney during the morning peak travel period are now guaranteed a safe, comfortable and reliable journey that takes less than an hour.